The Supervisory Encounter. A Guide For Teachers Of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy And Psychoanalysis: By Daniel Jacobs, M.D., Paul David, M.D., and Donald Jay Meyer, M.D. New Haven /London: Yale University Press, 1995. 285 pp.

With a title well chosen, the authors present their thesis clearly: supervision is an encounter between two people: one more experienced in teaching and evaluating, another aspiring to be an analytic therapist. This encounter is steeped in mutual respect while supervisor and supervisee learn together about the patient, about one another, and about themselves. In an interesting stylistic choice the supervisor is referred to as “she” throughout the book, a choice in keeping with the gentle and sensitive atmosphere which the authors convey.

For the authors, supervision is a process of mutual collaboration and joint discovery aimed at helping students expand their thinking and their ability to use their feelings while forging a better understanding of themselves and their patients. Jacobs and his co-authors open up for us the rarely discussed issue of the inner experience of the supervisee and of the supervisor and its influence on the development of the supervisory relationship. Meaning in the supervisory space is co-constructed. What helps deepen the supervisory dialogue and what limits the ability of teacher and student to talk openly with one another are the primary concerns outlined in the introduction.

After a brief history of supervision the authors focus on the opening phase. They recommend what amounts to a supervisory assessment of supervisees, with the idea of getting to know them in the context of their training and prior supervisory experiences, as well as