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A review of the literature on supervision in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis indicates that the major emphasis is on what the supervisee needs to learn, how this learning can be achieved and evaluated, and what problems the supervisee needs to face and resolve in order to achieve competency as a therapist (Arlow, 1963; Blomfield, 1985; Greenberg, 1997; Junkers, Tuckett & Zachrisson, 2008; Martindale et al., 1997; Target, 2002; Wallerstein, 1981). In what follows, I would like to focus on the tasks of the supervisor, what should be expected of him or her, and the difficulties one finds with supervisors rather than supervisees. Jacobs, David, and Meyer (1995) included this focus on the supervisor in their broad, systematic approach to supervision across the spectrum of psychoanalytically oriented treatments. Here I wish to focus particularly on the specific tasks of the supervisor of psychoanalytic candidates.
Tuckett (2005) and Szecsödy (2008) have contributed significantly to a review of the criteria involved in evaluating a candidate’s psychoanalytic competence. It is generally agreed that a supervisor’s responsibilities are to transmit to the supervisee knowledge of the application of psychoanalytic theory to psychoanalytic technique, with particular reference to the skills required to carry out the technical requirements of the supervised case. It is commonly accepted that a collegial attitude should be stimulated and maintained, with the avoidance of an authoritarian ambiance that conveys a supervisor’s sense of seniority or superiority to the supervisee.