IJSP Number 6, 2024

58 • S4 + M4 The behaviour with low emphasis on both the supervisor- therapist relationship and the task (S4) is called "delegating" as the style gives the therapist the freedom to solve tasks "in his own way". The supervisor delegates while the therapist, with a high level of experience/maturity, is both willing and able to take responsibility for directing their own behaviour. In order to improve a therapist accountability, a supervisor must be careful not to increase the socio-emotional support (supervisor-therapist relationship- oriented behaviour) too early. In this case the therapist will consider the supervisor as "soft". The supervisor must compensate, using less task-oriented behaviour and more supervisor-therapist relationship-oriented behaviour as the therapist develops accountability. When the efficiency of a therapist is low, essential changes cannot be expected overnight. In order to obtain the most appropriate behaviour, the supervisor must reward the smallest approximation of the expected behaviour from the therapist and continue this process as long as the therapist moves closer and closer to the expectations. This is a behaviour modification concept. If a supervisor wants to improve the maturity level of a therapist in order to be able to take on more responsibility, the best option is to reduce directing/coordinating, thus giving the therapist the opportunity to take on increasing responsibilities. If these responsibilities are well carried out, the supervisor needs to develop this supervisor-therapist relationship-oriented behaviour. This is a two-stage process: first, to reduce authority and, if appropriate performing follows, a second stage, to increase socio-emotional support as a confirmation of the achieved performance and help. This process is continuous until the therapist takes significant responsibilities, thus leading to moderate experience/maturity. This does not mean that the work of the therapist will be totally unguided, but that it will be self- imposed (internal) much more than by the supervisor (external). When this process occurs, therapists will not only be able to find their own solution direction for many of the situations in which they are engaged, but they will also begin to provide their own satisfaction of interpersonal and emotional needs. In this phase, positive help in achieving the objectives will not come from a supervisor who is "always looking over their shoulder" but from a supervisor who lets them manage more and more on their own. It does not mean that there is less mutual trust and friendship (in fact there is even more), but that it requires less direct effort on the part of the supervisor to demonstrate it to mature therapists. Even though this theory seems to suggest the necessity to adopt an effective style for different levels of experience/maturity, it is not that simple. When psychotherapists begin to behave less maturely, whatever the reason (a family crisis, a change in work technology, etc.), it becomes imperative for the supervisor