Contemporary Psychoanalysis. XXII, 1986: Collusive Selective Inattention to the Negative Impact of the Supervisory Stuation. Lawrence Epstein. Pp. 389-409.

Because the supervisory situation is an authoritarian one, the two participants are likely to collude in ignoring the negative impact of the supervisor on the supervisee and on the supervisee's conduct of the treatment. Since negative impact of the supervision on the conduct of the therapy is most likely to occur when the supervisee's experience of the negative interaction with the supervisor is unformulated, it is crucial for the supervisor to endeavor to create an atmosphere in which the supervisee can voice negative feelings about the supervisor, the supervision, and the patient, with minimum attendant risk. In traditional supervision the focus is on the supervisee-patient relationship, and the difficulties in the relationship between supervisee and supervisor are likely to be overlooked. The author advocates an approach in which the educational needs and self-esteem of the supervisee are given maximum attention. The atmosphere of openness in investigating the supervisee's response to the supervisor's interventions is then internalized by the supervisee and carries over into the actual conduct of the therapy. To illustrate his contentions, Epstein presents several examples of both supervisory failures and supervisory successes.