Rumer Godden wrote “Mind on mind kindles warmth.” There is great warmth, kindling of ideas, and great care, in the supervision relationship. This is one area I learn so much too.
Quick! Listen to Esther working with couples for free – click here
Supervision is a critical issue for therapists in many training programmes. Quality of training and of therapeutic treatment is paramount, and increasingly the therapy profession is having to devise ways of assessing and monitoring themselves and each other. In this book, Dale Mathers and his contributors emphasise a model of supervision based on parallel process, symbol formation and classical Jungian analysis rather than developmental psychology or psychoanalytic theory, to show how respect for diversity can innovate the practice of supervision. Vision and Supervision by Dale Matthews (ed) (2009) suggests that the framework of supervision include its boundaries and ethical parameters. individuation and has value in different contexts including working with organisations and multicultural perspectives.
“Containment is… when one person receives and understands the emotional communication of another without being overwhelmed by it, processes it and then communicates understanding and recognition back to the other person. This process can restore the capacity to think in the other person” (Douglas, H. {2007}. Containment and reciprocity: Integrating psychoanalytic theory and child development research for work with children. Hove: Routledge.)
As a professional I have claimed all the professional support I and my practice deserve. On-going training and on-going supervision not only feed me and keep my clients safe, they are vital for my equilibrium. Individual and group supervision was part of my rhythm even as a volunteer counsellor, and I was glad when I could volunteer my supervision to the same organisation! One supervisor said to me, when I was on the edge of burnout “Joy it makes sense – caring is costly; if you didn’t care this much you wouldn’t be in the right work!”
I have been very fortunate to train specifically in supervision and therapist consultation through Jette Simon in Copenhagen. This is exciting and fulfilling, because working with people open to grow is every therapist’s hope, and these therapists coming for supervision are declaring their openness and determination to grow.
Kobus van der Merwe and I have a precious working relationship. I sit in on his training whenever and wherever I can. He is gifted in his training, and happily passes trainees on to me for deeper growth in the work as evolving Imago therapists. I am likewise very proud to know Kobus; he has an impact on the International Imago community, and takes gifts from South Africa, and his hard work and amazing love and wisdom, to the world wide community.
I love Imago. I’m in love with it, have power struggles with it and grow in conscious relationship with it day by day. I was first attracted when I started reading about a way of understanding relationships that integrated so much of the theory that had enriched my work. My heart took a tumble when I found how Imago wants ME to involve it fully in my own life before I even begin to theorise about it, or learn how to use it to help my clients. I fell utterly in love during our 1st workshop with Hedy and Yumi Schleifer in 2002. My full passionate commitment was cemented when in training with Jette Simon in 2003 my spirit recognised the spirit of Imago in my being. I got certificated!
I was ripe to fall in love and take on the challenge of a relationship with Imago, having a rich and complex marriage of 23 years, and seeing clearly all the problems my husband needed to fix in himself. Now at our 33rd anniversary I feel extremely grateful that he has stayed beside me as I give him a hard time working out my full growth!
Imago, as any well-chosen partner, has not only helped me heal and grow in myself, my marriage and my parenting; it has affirmed what I learnt in my theological studies: that I am born in relationship, Shalom, happy with myself (gosh!), with other people on this planet, with creation and with Creator.
Growing in love, my husband, Dave, and I became Workshop Presenters in 2007 and I travelled to Denmark through 2008 to train as an Imago Supervisor. I relish that work! I am now pursuing research about the impact of belief systems on our well-being, through the lens of Imago Relationship Theory, using the attachment theory, central to the formation of IRT, and interpersonal-neurobiology with which it is now evolving. Click here to find out more about me.
Taking Vagal Virtual
We CAN generate safe and deep connections for our clients even on line.
Here’s how: READ MORE HERE.