Research supervision and psychotherapeutic theory: Bridging the research-practice gap¹

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented as a refereed paper at the Australian Counselling and Supervision Conference, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, 17–18 February 2005 with the title ‘The usefulness of psychotherapeutic technique for research supervision’.

Abstract

Research supervision in the field of counselling and psychotherapy is a fruitful area for investigation in view of the fact that the research supervisory relationship is powerful and highly charged, whether consciously acknowledged or not. Researchers trained as counsellors and psychotherapists possess the skills to facilitate the emergence of, and work creatively with, impasses and crises, both in the research itself and the supervisory relationship, as a result of their training and experience in dealing with crisis and catharsis in clinical work. This paper will demonstrate these points using a case vignette from my work as a supervisor of research dissertations undertaken by students on a Masters in Therapeutic Counselling course. Drawing on narrative analysis, clinical supervision theory and discursive analysis it will look at the strengths and weaknesses of a ‘psychotherapeutic’ approach to research supervision.

Keywords:

• research supervision
• narrative analysis
• clinical supervision
• discursive analysis
• practitioner research

Notes

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented as a refereed paper at the Australian Counselling and Supervision Conference, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, 17–18 February 2005 with the title ‘The usefulness of psychotherapeutic technique for research supervision’.