About the Supervision Study Program

Since 1986, The Psychotherapy Institute has offered a two-year program in the theory and practice of supervision. One of the oldest such programs in the nation, it is the only one of its kind in the Bay Area. The program combines readings and didactic instruction with a practicum that includes weekly individual and small-group consultation. Participants enrolled in the program may provide supervision to trainees in the Institute’s psychodynamic training program, as well as to licensed therapists in the community through the Institute’s professional consultation service.
The mission of the program is to help participants develop a sense of personal authority as teachers within the profession. Supervision is presented as a separate, intimate, and complex process, distinct from psychotherapy and requiring special attention and study.
Participants in training receive individual consultation from senior clinicians who have closely studied and applied the supervision process. Participants also work in a small group with a group consultant, studying the literature and sharing supervisory experiences, to better understand the complex relationships between consultant and supervisor, supervisor and supervisee, and supervisee and patient.

Who should apply?

• Therapists who wish to learn about supervision, sharpen their teaching skills, or develop a better understanding of the process of teaching psychotherapy
• Therapists interested in making the passage to a more advanced level of practice as teachers and mentors
• Therapists in positions of authority who want to become more effective in a leadership role

Qualifications

• Applicants must be licensed in California to practice independently in a mental health field (for example, psychiatry, social work, psychology, marriage/family therapy, nursing) and have a minimum of three years of post-license clinical experience.
• Applicants must have the capacity for introspection and self-awareness.
• Applicants must be supervising or consulting at the time they enter the program (beginning of October). The Selection Committee can suggest supervisory opportunities for program participants who are not already providing supervision or consultation.

A partial list of covered topics:

• Styles of teaching and learning
• Differences between supervision and psychotherapy
• Phases of supervision
• Establishing a supervisory relationship
• Utilizing parallel process, transference, and countertransference
• Timing and content of supervisory interventions
• Assessing supervisees’ learning and dealing with learning difficulties