The Supervisory Relationship: Bedrock of Psychoanalysis

Abstract

This introduction to a special issue of Psychoanalytic Perspectives proposes new terminology for a scholarly discussion of psychoanalytic supervision, emphasizing “the Supervisory Relationship” over “Supervision.” Underscoring the interactive and interpersonal dynamics of this unique collaboration, the introduction summarizes the editor’s thinking about what makes this relationship distinct, vital, and underexplored. Three interviews with seasoned and highly respected clinicians—Martin S. Bergmann, Margaret Black, and Arnold Rachman—each packed with musings and reflections from the supervisors’ side of the room, are included, as is a roundtable conversation with candidates-in-training and recently graduated psychoanalysts about their experiences from the other side of the supervisory relationship. Mary Gail Frawley-O’Dea caps the roundtable with reflections on that honest conversation. Two scholarly papers from Eric Sherman and Warren Wilner, as well as a tribute to the late Martin S. Bergmann by Mindy Utay, conclude the section.

Keywords:

• psychoanalytic candidate
• psychoanalytic training
• supervisee
• supervision
• supervisor
• supervisory relationship

Acknowledgments

I thank Sheldon Itzkowitz and Rachel Altstein for their assistance with these introductory remarks, Janet Kelly and Sharyn Leff for their hard work and support throughout the writing and editing of this issue, and Rachel Sopher for her always careful edits and skillful finishing touches.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jill Choder-Goldman

Jill Choder-Goldman, LCSW, is the Interview Editor for Psychoanalytic Perspectives, where her most recently published interview was with Adam Phillips. She is a psychoanalyst with a private practice in New York City, where she treats individuals, couples, and groups, and she is a clinical supervisor and advisor for NIP. She devotes a part of her practice to those in the arts, having also had a successful career as a performer for 20 years.