Dreams and
Clinical Supervision: The Dreams of a Supervisee and the
Reflections of her Supervisor
Carol Humphreys, MA, is a
doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Miami University in
Ohio. A former social worker and child therapist, she has engaged
with both children and adults around their dreams in various
clinical settings. Her current research focuses on dissociative
experiences and the changes that can occur in psychotherapy.
Roger Knudson, PhD, is
Director of Clinical Training in the PhD program in clinical
psychology at Miami University and a member of the IASD Board of
Directors. He has taught courses on dreams for over 25 years at
Miami. His published work on dreams has focused on "significant"
dreams from the perspective of archetypal psychology.
Abstract
Since Freud, dreams in therapy
have been viewed as significant for both therapists and their
patients. They are often seen as evidence of the
countertransference issues that arise in the dyad. A significant
portion of the literature about these dreams appears to focus on
clients’ dreams about their therapists or therapists’ dreams about
their clients (Blechner, 2001, Degani, 2001, Winnicott, 1947).
Fewer studies focus on the dreams that occur in the supervisory
dyad and fewer still focus on the dreams a supervisee has about a
specific supervisor. Yet, Bernstein and Katz (2001) suggest that
dreams in clinical supervision can also reflect
countertransference issues and are worthy of exploration. In one
study, Olsson and Gudrun (1991) tracked the dreams of six
supervisees over a three-month period of time. The supervisees
were found to experience dreams richer in emotional contents than
the dreams of their unsupervised counterparts, specifically around
experiences of authority figures. However, despite identifying 41
dreams considered relevant to supervision, the authors reported
that there were no dreams that directly mentioned the supervisor.
In this presentation, a supervisee will present and discuss a
succession of dreams she experienced where the figure of her
supervisor was an active agent throughout.
The
dreams first began after the graduate student completed a
practicum in Archetypal psychology and saw adult clients in
therapy for the first time. She also began supervision with a male
professor who invited dream work from an aesthetic, imaginal
perspective. Soon thereafter and continuing for the next four
years, the student therapist experienced a succession of detailed
dreams about her supervisor and their supervisory relationship.
These dreams seemed to paint pictures of the experience of
intimidation, helplessness, hero worship, sexual tension, lack of
voice, intimacy, anger, breaking away and eventual collegial
support that she herself was facing. They certainly appeared to
parallel her shifting struggles with her supervisor as a man and
as an authority figure. Viewed together, they also seemed to
chronicle the growth of the novice therapist as she progressed
from a deferential student to a colleague in relation to her
supervisor. Using an archetypal, stick-to-the-image approach, the
supervisee spent a significant amount of time honoring the images
that visited her in her dreams.
Part
one of this presentation will consist of the supervisee sharing a
series of dreams that focused on the figure of the supervisor. She
will talk about the ways she worked with the dreams and how doing
so facilitated her own growth as a therapist. Part two of this
presentation will include the reflections of the supervisor in
relation to the dreams and a broader discussion of dreams in
clinical supervision. A dialogue will then ensue between the
supervisee and supervisor.
References
Berstein, A.E. & Katz, S. C.
(2001). When supervisor and therapist dream: The use of an unusual
countertransference phenomenon. In The supervisory alliance:
Facilitating the psychotherapist's learning experience. 201-214.
Lanham, MD: Jason Aronson, Inc.
Blechner, M, (2001). The Dream
Frontier, Hillsdale, New Jersey: Analytic Press.
Degani, H. (2001). Therapists
dreams about patients and supervisors. In Dissertation Abstracts
International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering Vol.
62(3-B)2001 p.1570 Univ Microfilms International.
Olsson & Gudrun (1991). The
supervisory process reflected in dreams of supervisees. American
Journal of Psychotherapy. 45(4) 511-526.
Winnicott, D.W. (1947). ‘Hate in
the countertransference’. In Collected papers: Through Pediatrics
to Psychoanalysis. London; Tavistock.
