IJSP Number 3, 2021

103 experiencing supervision as an act of disturbing trainees’ sense of privacy and freedom, especially because of the disclosure nature of work that is asked from the trainee. The supervisee’s anxiety might be derived from the fear of losing boundaries and being dependent on the supervisor for mentorship. Also, the fear of evaluation, confidentiality and trust in the supervisor is likely to trigger anxiety in supervisees. I remember a beginner psychoanalytic psychotherapist, whose supervisor was not satisfied with her performance in the sessions. She was extremely worried that her supervisor might report her poor performance to other students. Finally, the source of anxiety in the supervisee might be the supervisor. Supervisors have their own reasons for being anxious during the process; for instance, the supervisor depends on the supervisee for referrals, feelings of self- worth and reputation in the institute and profession. This can create a dynamic in which the supervisor’s insecurities are projected into the supervisee, increasing feelings of shame and powerlessness that then get reenacted with the patient [20] 5. SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP The supervisory relationship provides a good context for both participants to deal with the issues explained above. “Supervision has moved toward more egalitarian, bidirectional and intersubjective models in which needs and vulnerabilities of supervisor and supervisee are acknowledged” [19]. It has become clear to analysts that the authoritarian tilt of the traditional tutorial psychoanalytic supervisory relationship can lead both participants to collude in selective inattention, which indicates the negative impact of supervision on the trainee and his functioning with the patient under supervision [21]. Fiscalini [22] has discussed the issue of parataxic interferences in the supervisory relationship. He reviewed the different influences of two successive supervisory relationships on himself, when he had sessions with the same patient. Accordingly, his first supervisor focused on Fascalini’s failure in confronting the patient with his hostility and self-centered disregard toward others. As a result, his empathic attitude towards the patient’s anxiety gave way to a strict focus on the patient’s hostility and alienating defensive operations. His second supervisor: Helped me see the impact of my anxiety and anger on the analytic relationship…In the supervisory situation, the supervisor focused on my anxiety in the supervision process as well as on my anxiety in the analysis…As I became more secure in the analytic relationship and in supervision and grasped my parataxic participation in both, the analytic inquiry became broader and deeper . . . and in time, the patient began to show genuine concern and sympathy for others and he became better able to see them and himself realistically.