IJSP Number 6, 2024

39 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN SUPERVISION AND PSYCHOTHERAPY Uta WEDAM 1 1 Austrian Association for Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy (OeAGP), International Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications (GTA) Email : uta.wedam@hotmail.com Abstract In this article on supervision, similarities between supervisory and psychotherapeutic activities are pointed out as well as significant differences with regard to the tasks within the respective professional fields. It is particularly useful for psychotherapists who are supervisors or strive to become supervisors to develop their own supervisory identity. On closer inspection, the basic and personal skills that both a psychotherapist and a supervisor should have are very similar. Essential in both formats is dialogical collaboration, which is a basic prerequisite for the relationship as a dynamic process. Another common aspect is empathic, scenic and biographical understanding, which prove to be valuable for understanding and analyzing personal and professional contexts. The difference ultimately lies in the starting position. The client is a person seeking help for a personal problem. Psychotherapist and client meet in the therapeutic space. The supervisee is a questioner for a professional problem. There is a triangular relationship between the supervisee, their work assignment and the supervisor. Key words: supervision, dialogic cooperation, relationship dynamics, tacit knowledge, Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy 1. INTRODUCTION Supervision has become an important tool in the work and teaching of various professional groups, particularly in the clinical and psychosocial fields. For psychotherapists, supervision has long been an integral part of their training and everydaywork. This article focuses on the field of therapeutic and clinical work, which is essentially concerned with the quality of professional relationship work and