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Over many years, Dr. Nancy McWilliams has honed her supervisory skills in a variety of settings and in different ways, meeting with analytic candidates and graduate students—supervising one-on-one, in twosomes, and in groups. She has been a consultant to experienced therapists when they have faced difficult clinical problems. She is a much sought after teacher and speaker. (She has published over thirty articles on a variety of subjects in psychoanalytic journals and has authored or coauthored at least five other books [1994,1 1999,2 2004,3 2013,4 20205]). McWilliams’ knowledge about supervision and her scholarship concerning it are on full display in this book. Toward the end of this book, there are twenty-one pages of references to the studies she cited. Her advice is sound. Her writing style is direct and easy to follow.
Why then, did I find myself frustrated by an admirable effort to describe the challenges of supervision and to offer advice gleaned from her deep experience with it? Let me start with the book’s title:
McWilliams, N. . Psychoanalytic Diagnosis: Understanding Personality Structure in Clinical Process. New York: Guilford Press.
McWilliams, N. . Psychoanalytic Case Formulation. New York: Guilford Press.
McWilliams, N. . Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy: A Practitioner’s Guide. New York: Guilford Press.
Greenberg, L. McWilliams N. & Wenzel, A. . Exploring Three Approaches to Psychotherapy. American Psychological Association.
Ferruta, A., Schinaia, C. & McWilliams, N. . Fear of Lockdown: Psychoanalysis, Pandemic Discontents, and Climate Change. Lecce, Italy: Frenis Zero Press.
Psychoanalytic Supervision. It seems a misnomer that does not accurately describe the book’s subject matter. At the outset, McWilliams (p. 1) quotes Bernard and Goodyear6 in the definition of psychoanalytic supervision:
An educational method or intervention where a more knowledgeable, experienced, senior member of the psychoanalytic profession enters into a relationship with a less kn