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Using videotaped meetings of supervision affecting Psychiatric Residents in training, the authors attempted to ascertain the degree of discussion of countertransference. They define countertransference broadly as the therapists' conscious and unconscious reactions to and feelings about their patients. Only four of the twenty-four supervisors observed talked about countertransference to a large degree. Twelve avoided the subject completely and the rest talked about it only indirectly. Nineteen of the twenty-four supervisors were candidates in or members of psychoanalytic institutes; the other five had dynamic psychotherapy as their primary theoretical orientation. Most of the supervisors believed that discussions of countertransference were equated with therapy and that therapy had no place in supervision. The authors interpret this behavior as phobic avoidance on the part of the supervisors and as an inadvertent betrayal of their educational responsibilities. This presents a dilemma: relieving anxiety, providing support, and establishing a positive relationship, while characteristic of therapy, should not be avoided in a supervisory situation. The authors feel that confusion between the roles of therapist and educator was undoubtedly involved in the case of those supervisors who were willing to talk only indirectly about countertransference. Although countertransference interpretation to the Resident could be used as a weapon by supervisors, either in a competitive struggle with the Residents or in the search for narcissistic gratification, this should not frighten supervisors away from discussing the Residents' countertransference reactions.