Supervision training courses ,and Psychotherapy training courses ,whether they have a major Humanistic or Psychodynamic stance, will be concerned with the teaching of the defence mechanisms of the client population, in the therapy process, and the defence mechanisms of the Supervisee in the supervision population.
Clients when coming to Psychotherapy ,and Supervisee’s when entering their Supervision may errect, and maintain, if possible, their defence mechanisms.
In Psychotherapy these defence mechanisms are established by the client to maintain their own Script, and their sense of reality; and of course to keep the psychotherapist at bay ,and out of connection or relationship with themselves. in Supervision the Supervisee may, out of their awareness,errect similar defence mechanisms as the ones that the clients operate from within the therapeutic process.
Such Defence mechanisms are;
Denial
Projection
Projective Identification
Dissociation
Regression
Compartmentalisation
Splitting
in transactional analysis psychotherapy other defences include any of the Injunctions, Drivers, Games, Rackets and any other mechanisms to maintain their Script plan. As these defence mechanisms are unconscious it is important that the Therapist, within the Therapy process interprets and confronts them. In the Supervision process it is also important that the Supervisor helps the Supervisee ,to become aware of some of the defence mechanisms that they might be employing within the Supervisory process. And in terms of Parallel Process, how they may also be using the same unconscious defence mechanisms ,to keep out of relationship with their own clients in the own therapeutic process.
Indeed this shows how important the Supervisor is within the supervision encounter. It’s vitally important then that the Supervision courses, include in the syllabus ,the teaching of defence mechanisms, parallel process, and how to work with unconscious communication. For it is the Supervision and training that provides the competent Supervisee’s and Supervisors of today.
Bob Cooke 2013
