Stages of group psychotherapy supervision: a model for supervising beginning trainees of dynamic group therapy.

Abstract

This article presents a model for supervising beginning therapists of dynamic group psychotherapy. It is geared to their experience with the challenging patients most often seen in training clinics. The model presupposes no particular metapsychology but, to meet trainees' needs, advocates a hierarchically organized set of operational goals. The supervision is conceptualized as ideally occurring in three sequential stages: (a) The "Technical" phase conveys the fundamentals of technique, the "craft." (b) The "Enrichment" stage emphasizes appreciation of group phenomena, including formal group dynamic theory. (c) The final phase highlights the more "Personal" side of becoming a skilled group psychotherapist, including countertransferential issues and the termination process. The model, not intended to be applied in a Procrustean manner, also serves, nevertheless, as a description of how a satisfactory supervision for beginners generally proceeds.