Future developments in psychoanalytic supervision1

Abstract

In parallel to analytic therapy, the theory and practice of supervision have significantly changed in recent decades, reflecting global cultural transformations. While wishing to preserve valuable traditional analytic insights and principles, many supervisors also wish to incorporate new ways of understanding the supervisory materials and the supervisees’ developmental needs. In this paper, I will suggest that three major changes have occurred and will probably develop in the future: from highlighting past orientation to future orientation, from educational and therapeutic goals to experiential goals, and from linear logical understanding to prereflective understanding in supervision. Discussing these future developments is essential because the supervisory encounter promotes an intergenerational dialogue and integration of the old and the new in analytic therapy and supervision.