IJSP Number 5, 2023

8 supervisees’ level of professional skill and acumen. Supervision can be highly effective in promoting competent, ethical psychotherapists when the supervisor varies the supervisory approach according to the individual’s phase of professional development.As I engage in any case consultation I am faced with a series of reflective questions: According to the professional development of this particular supervisee, is it beneficial to use the supervision session to teach various psychotherapy concepts and methods or is it more advantageous to enhance the supervisee’s self-confidence as a psychotherapist? With this particular supervisee is it my task to challenge the supervisee to reach a new level of knowledge and competence? And do I do this through consistent inquiry, by sharing my knowledge and experience, or by guiding them to readings or other training activities? Or a combination of all three? When is it best to facilitate the supervisee’s appreciation and use of their responsive countertransference in order to enhance their capacity for empathy, involvement, and attunement to their client’s developmental level? With this supervisee is the supervision session a suitable environment to enable the supervisee in identifying and resolving any possible reactive countertransference? Is it beneficial to engage the supervisee in their own psychotherapy to resolve any reactive countertransference that may interfere with their practice of psychotherapy or is it more advantageous to focus on the supervisee’s acquisition of psychotherapy skills and knowledge? 2. BEGINNING PHASE OF SUPERVISION Skill Development . When I have a supervisee who is in their initial phase of training in psychotherapy the aim of supervision is on developing their therapeutic skills. The supervise who requires skill development may be either a new psychotherapist or an already skilled therapist who has decided to enhance their effectiveness in utilizing a new approach, such as working within a relational perspective, using a child development framework, integrating body-orientated therapy, or resolving cumulative trauma. Therefore, the initial focus is on the trainee’s acquiring of information, techniques, and the perspectives that can be gained from a supervisor’s years of experience. During this phase of the supervisee’s professional development, I may do a lot of teaching as an integral part of the training and/or supervision session. The purpose of the teaching is to complement and enhance what the supervisee already knows and to stimulate the supervisee’s thinking about ethics. Particularly during this phase I want to help the supervisee strengthen their skills in making interpersonal contact, develop their capacity for affect and rhythmic attunement, and consistently use phenomenological inquiry. Some of this is conveyed via my modelling with the trainee how to use both phenomenological and historical inquiry, when to acknowledge and normalize the client’s experience, and how to sustain a sense of therapeutic involvement.