IJSP Number 8, 2026

International Journal of Supervision in Psychotherapy, Number 8, 2026 Page | 7 SPIRIT, SOUL, AND STRUGGLE IN SUPERVISION: MY EIGHT ANCHORS OF HONOR WATKINS, Jr., C. Edward 1,2 1 Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 2 Institute of Psychotherapy, Psychological Counselling and Clinical Supervision, Romania Email: cewatkins54@outlook.com Abstract: I have been given the privilege of sharing with you some of my most cherished beliefs and convictions and views about supervision, and I do so subsequently. Although there is a host of beliefs, convictions, and views that I could share, I emphasize eight that are most meaningful to me --- what I consider to be my eight Anchors of Honor. These Anchors, while grounding and guiding my supervisory work, also reflect my way of honoring and holding in mind the awe and wonder of supervision itself, that grandly generative service with which we as supervisors are graciously gifted. What follows is an adaptation of two presentations, first, the Lectio Magistralis, an invited address delivered at the International Conference: Supervision in Psychotherapy, June 7 th , 2025 [1], upon conferral of the Doctor Honoris Causa by the “Tibiscus” University of Timişoara (the greatest honor of my professional life) and, second, Spirit, Soul, and Struggle in Supervision, an invited keynote address delivered at the First Latin American Conference on Clinical Supervision, October 9 th , 2025 [2]. Key words : supervision, anchor, honor, development, supervisee identity 1. INTRODUCTION I am honored to have this opportunity to share with you some of my dearest and most deeply held convictions about supervision. That supervision is oh so very special to me is oh so very true, that has been the case for over 40 years now, and I hope to subsequently provide you with the bounty of reasons as to why that is so. All that I will talk about in the pages that follow reflects my struggle to better understand what I do as a supervisor and why; so, I will ‘think out loud’ that struggle with you here. But I do believe that there is strength in the struggle, and I hope that my supervision journey --- as has been the case so far --- will forever be an ongoing, lifelong, joyful journey. May that always be so because, as a supervisor, I always want to do better, I always want to be better; and I also always know that I am never ‘there’. So, if there is a single, solid through line in my writing here, it is simply this: what I want most dearly in supervision --- to be a good clinical supervisor. I want to focus on three crucial dimensions of supervision: spirit, soul, and struggle. For my purposes here, I define those terms as follows: Spirit --- that force which animates; vital essence inspiring action;