Supervision and imagination.
This paper explores the role of imagination for the supervisor and examines the differences between the supervisor's use of creative and defensive imagination. It is suggested that reverie and imagining play a central role in supervision but that these need to be harnessed in the service of the reality principle. It is argued that the Jungian emphasis on the ego-self relationship provides a context for this process. A clinical example of work with a supervisee is described in which hidden aspects of a strong erotic transference/countertransference were revealed in the supervisor's imagining and became available for reflection.
Bravesmith
Anna
A
LondonCentre for Psychotherapy, London NW6 5TH, UK. anna@jar59.fsnet.co.uk
D003379:Countertransference; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004532:Ego; D005201:Fantasy; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011584:Psychology / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011936:Reality Testing; D014167:Transference, Psychology