The content of the supervisor’s task has, of course, been debated at various levels. In an extreme position on the spectrum, the existential theorist. Kora (1957), defines the supervisor as an enabler of therapist growth, and goes so far as to say that therapy depends more upon what the therapist is as a person than on what he does or knows, implying that the same is true for the supervisor. Others, however, have stressed the teaching function of supervision. Bibring, Grotjahn, Sloane and Keiser (1956) reported on a panel on psychoanalytic training policy which agreed that the teaching goal was paramount. The early debates about supervision centred on the issue of therapy
vs. didactic teaching. Ekstein & Wallerstein (1958), in an influential book on supervision, point out that the student may have resistances to learning which need working through with the help of the supervisor and held the view that the supervisor should apply his therapeutic skills to the learning problems of the trainee. Gitelson (1948) believed that the supervisor should use confrontation, not interpretation, to focus on the student's problems. Tarachow (1963), in contrast, resolved that supervision should be patient-centred, directed to the problems and needs of the patient as manifested in the clinical material, not in analyzing the supervisee. Solnit (1970) stated that supervision is "more than education and less than psychotherapy". In a synthesis of these views, Fleming & Benedek (1966) stressed the learning alliance formed by the supervisory pair and, at the same time, suggested that supervision be flexible to the changing needs of the supervisee and assist with personality difficulties or unresolved conflicts as they arise. Thus, optimally, the supervisor combines his competence as a teacher and as a therapist in his supervisory capacity. Parallel Process
The phenomenon of parallel process has been noted since the 1950s. In an early critical review, Schlessinger (1966) discusses the parallel process in terms of an enactment by the trainee of a behaviour of the patient ' s in the supervisory session. Ekstein & Wallerstein (1958)
point out that the student may look sick because of identification with the patient as a part of the learning experience. Hora (1957) describes this as a form of communication in which a failure of recognition, recall and verbalization has taken place and a problem of the patient is introjected and acted out by the therapist. Greenson (1960) links the phenomenon with the therapist's empathy, a model of the patient in the mind of the therapist which touches off similar conflicts belonging to the therapist. Most feel that attention to, and analysis of, this phenomenon is appropriate and helpful, however, Searles (1955) warns that excessive preoccupation with parallel processes shifts attention away from the patient and is undesirable. Searles (1955) terms the process 'reflection', and contends that the supervisor's emotional responses to the supervisee, in turn, can provide useful analytic information, however he points out that the possibility of error in this chain of communication is formidably large. Caligor (1981) finds parallel processes to be present in both individual and group supervision and suggests changing roles in role play as an antidote. Tarachow (1963) has not observed the phenomenon and suggests that the degree to which such a parallel exists is a consequence of the method of supervision, perhaps of excessive passivity, and needs to be studied.
Developmental Models
therapeutic tasks according to developmental learning stages. In an early exploration of the developmental model of supervision, Fleming & Benedek (1964) put forward a sequence of learning objectives taught according to the level of the trainee, corresponding to sequences that psychotherapists go through with patients in the stages of therapy: The initial phase involves attention and listening skills, becoming aware of unconscious meanings, assessing levels of anxiety and resistance and learning to judge the timing and dosage of interventions that maintain the therapeutic relationship. The middle phase involves learning to handle the transference, counter-transference and regression. The end phase entails the recognition of behavioural signs of progress and the technical problems of termination.
Fleming (1953) outlined three types of learning in the apprentice relationship: imitative, corrective and creative, which probably corresponds to general epistemological stages. The extent to which supervisors adjust their interventions to the learning stage, personality, or the level of experience of the supervisee varies, it would seem, according to such variables as theoretical orientation, supervision model or the perceptual sensitivity and communication skills of the individual supervisor.
The most attention to and promotion of developmental models of supervision have been by the counsellors.
Conceptualizations of supervision have relied heavily on the stages of the counselling relationship (Garfield & Bergin, 1986). Ronnestad (1982, 1983) argues for a developmental view in which the supervisor's mode of teaching is dictated by the trainees developmental needs. The earlier stages require didactic teaching and information-giving, whereas, in later stages clarification, integration and feedback are important. Holloway (1987) critically examines three of the most prominent developmental theories, those of Stoltenberg (1981), Loganbill, Hardy & Delworth (1982) and Blocher (1983). With variations, the theories posit a series of graduated stages passed through by the trainee which require that the supervisor provide a learning environment matched to the trainee's level in systematic instructional learning. Holloway finds that all of these theories have various serious drawbacks: discrepancies between the supervision model and the underlying developmental model on which they are based, problems with theoretical complexity, and methodological problems. Further, attempts to find evidence for the models have failed to confirm sequential developmental change through a series of stages by the trainees. Holloway concludes that it is not models of trainee development that are the most influential factors of trainee learning experience in supervision, but the philosophy of training programs and supervisor characteristics. The developmental models appear to be too
structured, without freedom for creative learning for oneself, and they imply a universality of stages for all trainees in which there is a graduated recapitulation of learning levels, despite individual developmental levels of trainees upon entry into training programs. Holloway suggests that what appears to be developmental change may be an artifact of the early vulnerability and uncertainty and the later increase in confidence of "being in an intensive, evaluative, ongoing and demanding relationship"
(p. 215). Thus, in spite of the current popularity of developmental models for counsellors, this spoonfed approach to supervision is unnecessary when considered in the context of the lengthy, difficult training situation which presumes the presence of motivational factors toward task mastery in the repertoire of student behaviours, ensuring that learning takes place. It is sufficient that a supervisor characteristic of flexibility is present in which the supervisor is able to adjust supervisory technique to the individual learning needs of the student, without a rigid application of theoretical or technical stages of learning.
Manual-Guided Supervision
The newest of the training procedures that have emerged are the skills-training packages or "manualized" therapies. Strupp, Butler & Rosser (1988) advocate their use in training programs. Lambert & Arnold (1987) review the literature on supervision and find the most efficient
method of modifying therapeutic skills is structured learning by manuals, along with modelling, practice and feedback. Shiffman (1987) found no sample-wise changes as a result of general apprenticeship training, but did find significant changes in trainees through the use of structured therapy process training via manuals. Therapists in Schiffman’s study were more empathie and accepting, offered less advice and closed questions and more reflections of feeling. But Newman,et al, point out the key role of the supervisor who mediates and guides the learning from manuals, requiring that supervisor issues be addressed. Ivey & Authier (1978) in evaluating skills- training packages advise that the supervisor maintain a close personal involvement with the trainee. Further, it was found by Chevron & Rounsaville (1983), in studying the manual-guided interpersonal psychotherapy of the NIMH multisite depression study, that traditional supervision correlates with patient outcome, and should be used along with other methods. Studies of the strong modelling influence of supervisors by Borden (1983), Boyd (1978), Hosford & Barmann (1983) and Patterson (1983), place the emphasis, even in the skills-training approach, on supervisor characteristics.