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This series of essays from a range of psychodynamic perspectives arose out of a supervision course offered by the British Association of Psychotherapists, originally written as papers given to members of the course. As such, it follows a line of development through the fundamentals of supervision practice to a second part focusing
on supervisory technique, and a final section containing ‘master class’ papers on aspects of the supervisory relationship. There is a preface by Bernard Shapley who, apart from reviewing the different approaches to supervision, states clearly that contributors to the book are: ‘cautious about an over-reliance on the supervisor's unconscious and the parallel process as necessarily indicative of events in the therapeutic relationship’. He suggests two exceptions to this—when boundary issues between therapist and patient may be re-enacted in the supervisory relationship and when ‘blind spots’ occur and the supervisee is unable to think about certain issues in supervision or when with the patient.
The first part of the book consists of three papers stressing ethical practice. The first is by Lou Corner: ‘On beginning a supervisory relationship’, and chapters follow by Heather Wood: ‘Boundaries and confidentiality’, and by Hester McFarland Solomon: ‘The ethics of supervision: developmental and archetypal perspectives’. Lou Corner begins with an ethical principle, pointing out that the prospective supervisor should not put their need to be a supervisor above respect for the supervisee; they must be convinced of the prospective supervisee's potential to learn and develop. She suggests exploration of the supervisee's attitudes to their work and their training at an initial interview to prevent a situation in which the supervisor may have to extricate themselves at a later stage and risk undermining the supervisee. Heather Wood writes of the importance of ensuring that a supervisee is working within their competence. This may involve assessing pro