IJSP Number 5, 2023

37 understood to be arbitrary or detached from external restrictions or conditions, it is seen as being as free as possible from internal or external barriers and forces that distract from the actual goal. 2.1 CHARASTERISTICS OF WORKING WITH LIVING BEINGS To enable the development of creative forces , Metzger has worked out six “characteristics of working at the living” (living beings and living processes) [ 2, p. 12ff ] which will be explained in more detail below: 1. Non-Arbitrariness of Forms, 2. Shaping the Process by using the Forces Inherent within the Living Being, 3. Non-Arbitrariness of Working Times , 4. Non-Arbitrariness of Working Speed , 5. Accepting Detours , 6. Mutuality of Influence. They not only guide actions, but also affect the attitude of the supervisor to the same extent. These characteristics sound simple and immediately obvious at first, and that is where their strength resides. They can be verified by every person's own experience and actions. Nobody wants to be treated with coercion or by strictly prescribed rules that do not correspond to their own needs. In this context Walter [ 4 ] emphasizes that arbitrary and forced changes in humans are ineffective in the best case, in the worst case they are acts of ruthlessness or even violence. However, on closer examination and related to the concrete situation in supervision, they are not consistently easy to grasp. 1. Non-Arbitrariness of Forms In contrast to work with inanimate material, with living beings there can be no question of being able to produce or make something without taking their will and possibilities into consideration. Nothing can be imposed on a living being in the long run, which contradicts its nature. Only those potentials can be brought to maturity which are already inherent in the living being. Now this does not mean that it would be fundamentally impossible to force something on a human being from the outside, but this possibility is seen as very limited and contradicts in any case the ability of the human being to self-organize. 2. Shaping the Process by using the Forces Inherent within the Living Being Originally, this characteristic is vaguely translated as "forming from inner forces" and refers very closely to the first point described. The influenceability of developmental processes is low insofar as in care, education, teaching, psychotherapy as well as in supervision progress can only be set if the inner forces of the being to be cared for are respected. The task for the supervisor therefore consists to a large extent in setting conducive fringe conditions and in strengthening or holding back these inner forces at certain points so that they meet the needs in the current situation. This can only happen in an interactive process between supervisor and supervisee, which considers the abilities and possibilities of both. Proceeding according to a standardized pattern, independent of the respective individual and situational needs, does not lead to the intended results. Now one could object that it is precisely the inner forces of the supervisee that have brought him into a conflictual situation and cause him to seek supervision. This circumstance is not overlooked here, especially since reliance on self- regulatory forces does not mean that the supervisee can simply sit back and trust in the workings of self-organization. It is not said that a person's inner processes are