Context: Although psychotherapy supervision is accepted as a continuing education activity by the RANZCP, and is recommended in many Practice Guidelines, few mental health professionals-including psychiatrists-engage in such an activity.
Objectives: To explain and clarify the role of psychotherapy supervision in enhancing continuing education and practice expertise. To further the appreciation of both the presence of and the effects of psychodynamics in all interactions with patients, teams and other mental health care providers. To encourage the acquisition of further knowledge of psychodynamics and psychotherapies by practitioners.
Key messages: The role of supervision in clinical practice will be highlighted, as will overcoming barriers to obtaining supervision. As well, the different modalities of psychotherapy supervision are described. Sexual orientation, race, and body peculiarities amongst other issues are often overlooked or unrecognized as affecting treatment; supervision can elucidate these factors and thus improve treatment. Individual, group or peer group supervision can be beneficial, and experiences of each type of supervision and how to obtain them will be discussed. Becoming a supervisor is often resisted by individual psychiatrists, and discussion of the experiences of supervisors both novice and long-term will clarify, and hopefully, affirm the process.
Conclusion: Psychotherapy supervision is an invaluable aspect of clinical practice and continuing education. It enhances knowledge and treatment skills beyond what is learned in training, and thus also assists in the avoidance of b.
