The Interface of Attachment, Transference, and Countertransference: Implications for the Clinical Supervisory Relationship

Abstract

This paper examines how attachment processes interface with transference and countertransference dynamics that emerge through parallel process in the supervisor–therapist–client triadic relationship. Attachment establishes the groundwork for regulating distress that surfaces when transferences or countertransferences become activated in treatment and supervision. Attention to attachment styles helps prevent and resolve transference reenactments in the supervisory triad. Secure attachment within the supervisory relationship is linked to the self‐reflection and affect regulation of the professionals, which then influences the therapist's attunement to, and regulation of, the client's affect in psychotherapy. A case presentation illustrates the role of attachment in clinical supervision.

Keywords:

• Attachment
• transference–countertransference
• supervision
• parallel process

Notes

1. Self‐report research, such as this study, measures dimensions of interpersonal behavior along a continuum with “avoidant” or “dismissing” attachment on one side and “anxious” attachment on the other side. “Secure” attachment is viewed as low avoidance and anxiety. Interview measures, such as the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996), use the terms secure‐autonomous, dismissing of attachment, preoccupied with attachment, and unresolved‐disorganized to describe categories of adult states of mind with regard to attachment shaped by early childhood attachment relationships. These two different types of research describe similar behaviors related to attachment, but not necessarily the same phenomena (see Hesse, 1999; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2004).

2. This case illustration is a composite of actual case material from two different clinical/supervisory experiences of the author, and literal details have been altered to protect the anonymity of the participants.