Clinical Supervision: Managing Unbearable Projections

This paper is a development of previous work by the authors who have been clinical supervisors in the field for many years. The focus of this paper is on the role of the supervisor in helping the therapists to receive the... [ view full abstract ]

This paper is a development of previous work by the authors who have been clinical supervisors in the field for many years. The focus of this paper is on the role of the supervisor in helping the therapists to receive the dissociated, fragmented and projected aspects of refugee clients' traumatic experiences. A growing literature describes how listening to traumatic experiences can affect the practitioner. We will use case material to show the effect on the therapist of listening and sitting with refugees who have been subjected to extreme brutality and loss. We discuss how supervision can help the practitioner maintain the therapeutic process. The paper examines current research, and explores some core issues in the supervision process in this field of practice.