BAPPS NewsletterNovember 2002 |
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The
Autumn Conference: Some
Personal Reflections A long
journey from Newcastle: why go? The most positive, influential, and worst
professional relationships of my career have been with supervisors. The
members there were overwhelmingly white, middle class, middle aged. (With
apologies to the others!) "Grandmothers"?
I had a number of thoughts about the transmission of a culture in
psychotherapy, and how we hold and support the "parent-child"
relationship. Imre
Szecsody had been asked to deliver a paper. He asked people to interrupt,
which they did. Some wondered if a workshop formula would've been better?
There seemed little time and a formidable mass of material. The reply to
one query was "buy the book" and I think my report will reflect
that. The
assumption was the supervision of analytic trainees, a basic model but
only one among many? His
central focus was on learning processes - both intellectual and emotional
- in supervision as reminiscent in some ways of therapy in that both aim
at development through learning within a professional relationship. Both
can evoke early, primitive defences against dependence and not knowing ;
and supervision engages with a conflictual relationship to the
intellectual model. Dr.
Szecsody reprised Reynold's familiar 5 stage model of learning: from
absolute ignorance of what is unknown through awareness of ignorance to
comparative mastery - and then linked it to Erikson's stage-related
issues: trust v mistrust, shame/doubt v autonomy etc. This flashed past us
quickly just before the coffee break, and repays much further thought. I
enjoyed how two such familiar concepts married to produce a new line of
thinking about resistances to new learning. Another paper that. One
idea we all I think found useful was that of the contrast between
assimilative and accommodative learning. Assimilative
builds on what we know already and feels comfortable. Accommodative
challenges assumptions, requiring fundamental modification of existing
knowledge. Change
needs accommodative learning, hence the defences. Supervision
is more public than therapy. It has a relationship to the organisation
with its priorities, responsibility to the learning needs of the trainees,
but also to the needs of the patients (what is "allowed"?). We
are quality control as well as teachers. There
was a superb diagram, a rhombus, of the relationships in this crowded
room: Patient,
supervisor, therapist, organisation - all inter-related. Who is
addressing/influencing whom? Can
the patient address the Supervisor, and v.v.? Dr.
Szecsody's other focus was on research into supervision, which yielded
some awkward thoughts. 25% of
students would've liked a different Supervisor. Only 5% changed. Tough
for both. A candidate is a "chosen one" - don't rock the boat. Examination/assessment
of Supervisors is painful, and a leadership role is invested in them by
the organisation. Should
students report on supervision? 85% of
members of a Psychoanalytic Organisation believed taping sessions is
wrong. Does
it offer safety? How is
power/responsibility/authority handled and distributed in the organisation? Do the
students meet the Training Committee? Yet
the narcissistic needs of Supervisors -
to be good teachers - are as legitimate as anyone else's. Supertransference
was the label offered to describe unconscious enactment by the Supervisor
- who may for instance take refuge from the intensity of the twosome by
bringing in a third - a paper, a concept, an intellectual formulation,
become didactic. At the
end of an over-run first session a computer analysis appeared of the
openness v authoritarian aloofness present in a session plotted as a dance
- like diagram. "Read the book" for more detail. Shades of
Bion's Grid? It emphasised the importance of constant attention to the
interaction in its mobile immediacy. My own
small group wrestled interestingly with the supervision of people who
haven't had an analytic training, - in a sense a cross cultural issue. Do
we supervise people who have not had a training therapy? How to
point out counter transference interference in these circumstances? Are we
demanding all the flexibility from them? We
discussed the need to be true to ourselves while respecting difference,
acknowledging our own limitations; also the dynamic between openness and
sloppiness; a creative exchange v a danger of destructive colonialisation. The
final session wrestled with the problem of regression, and dreams. Even
un-encouraged is regression already present? How held as between the
supervisor and therapist? And
the differences between different Organisations within the analytic
tradition as regards continuing Consultation - some expect this, others
don't. Consultation
"bends" hierarchies, so can be hard to accommodate, but we need
to demonstrate now continuing professional development. In summary:
A feeling of frustration: no microphone, a lot of external noise. A
feeling of an invitation to a dialogue which didn't take place. Dr.
Szecsody's nice modelling of relaxed openness to his audience. A very
rich and interesting day, full of thought and ideas - enough for 3 days?
Too much material? Janet
Allison
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1st
UKCP Research Conference The
UKCP inaugural research conference was held at the University of Surrey on
29 May 2002. It focussed on 'what
is research' and was aimed at practitioners and trainees.
Its main objective was to bring together psychotherapeutic research
already being carried out and to further develop psychotherapeutic
research approaches within UKCP. The
focus was to examine approaches to research from the different UKCP
sections; to reflect on qualitative and quantitative approaches; The day commenced with
a plenary minus the plenary speaker as there was confusion over his
attendance, however a colleague presented his notes about research in
systemic theory. The day
continued with four parallel sessions and twenty two presenters.
The papers were interesting and relevant with stimulating
discussion. I attended as a presenter (research exploring what is
happening to passion in a traditional British university through the
medium of 'co-operative' inquiry and psychoanalytic perspectives on
organisations) and found the day was very worthwhile but the
administration and the briefing of the session chairs lacked dynamism. The day left me with a conviction that the standard and quality of the research was not beyond the capacity of BAPPS. There was NO research on supervision presented. Could research into supervision be a topic for a conference? Ann Bowes Supervisory
Quirks WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN SUPERVISION IS NOT AVAILABLE? President
Bill Clinton was left without supervision. The result? He is about to
CAPITALISE on this oversight by publishing a booked titled "Sex
Between the Bushes". Ruth
Barnet There
were no replies to last time's quirk so this is the best we can provide in
this issue!! My
Encounter with Shreck – The Data Protection
Act is a monster - its sheer size and complexity is monstrous! But, like
Shreck, it is a friendly monster. Nobody is expected to know everything
and get everything exactly right all the time. Despite its size, the Act
does not and cannot prescribe for every eventuality. If things go wrong and, in the worst scenario, the Data Information Commissioner gets a complaint about us, we need to demonstrate honesty, transparency & good intent to carry out the PRINCIPLES of the Act. Whatever we decide to
do with our data in our organisation we need to be able to answer FOR WHAT
PURPOSE we do it and FOR WHOSE BENEFIT, and keep it no longer after it has
served its purpose. The 1995 Data
Protection Act required organisations to 'register' with the DP
Commissioner and laid down requirements for registered organisations. The
new 1998 Act demands compliance with its requirements for processing
personal data by all organisations whether they are eligible or exempt
from having to 'notify' the Information Commissioner. PERSONAL DATA
is defined as any information about 'identifiable living individuals' in a
manual system or computer system that is structured for easy access
and anything (post, in-tray, emails) that will go into these files. The DATA CONTROLLER
is the organisation, in our case BAPPS, & determines the PURPOSE(S)
for the collection of its personal data & sets the POLICY for how this
data is to be processed by its agents, who are the data processors. The
Data Controller carries responsibility for complying with the principles
of the Act. DATA PROCESSING
means collecting, holding, storing, altering, up-dating, retrieving,
using, giving out, destroying or doing anything else with personal data. The PRINCIPLES of the Act are that:
FAIR PROCESSING
means that the data subjects must be informed, and sometimes consent
sought, for what you do with their data. They must not be deceived.
'Sensitive' data (racial origin, beliefs, health details, sexual life)
must be kept particularly secure. DATA SUBJECT
RIGHTS means that data subjects can ask to see and have a copy of
the data we keep about them. We can charge up to £10 for this. We also
have to allow for data subjects to opt in or opt out of certain data
processing (eg giving out lists and advertising) where it is appropriate
and reasonable. The emphasis is on 'reasonable'. In my opinion, BAPPS
is already complying with all the principles of the Act. As we process
only 'core business' data, ie data about our members and contacts in
agencies (we have no clients) we do not need to notify the Information
Commissioner (which would mean paying an annual fee of £35). Ruth Barnett
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Book
Reviews There
have been no new books received this time but look out for SUPERVISING
AND BEING SUPERVISED Edited
by Jan Wiener, Richard Mizen and Jennifer Duckham Published
December 2002. 224
pp, 216 x 138 mm
£17.990 - 333 - 96269 Pelgrave
Macmillan, Brunel Rd, Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hants 01256 329242 This
is a new book on supervision, with chapters written mainly by senior
analysts from the Society of Analytical Psychology.
Recognising the growing interest in the subject, and in the light
of moves towards the registration of psychotherapy as a profession where
supervision will likely continue until retirement, the book explores the
pleasures and pitfalls of supervising in different settings. The content and style
of the different chapters reflects the range of perspectives of
contemporary Jungian analysts and will have relevance for analysts,
psychotherapists and counsellors from different schools with an interest
in reflecting about the supervisory process in all its manifestations.
The reader will find chapters on aspects of the supervisory
relationship, on supervising in different settings, on the problems that
emerge in supervision and finally on the theory of supervision. Two main themes may be
discovered to run through the text. The first is the emphasis on the supervisory relationship,
from the perspectives of both supervisor and supervisee, and the
unconscious processes constellated between them.
The second addresses the question of whether there is a theory of
supervision and ,if so, how it may be differentiated from the theories and
concepts that are the bread and butter of our analytic practice. Feel
free to send in your own book reviews to Christine Driver chris@driver4.prestel.co.uk Brief or longer reviews on books that are on or around supervision or short comments on ANY OTHER book that you think might appeal to members. IMRE
SZECSÖDY's book If you wish to order a
copy of the book 'The
Learning Process in
Psychotherapy
Supervision"
by the speaker at the October
Conference, Assoc. Professor, Imre Szecsödy MD, PhD,
please send a cheque for £35 payable to BAPPS to me at P.O.
Box 419 Redhill RH9
8DL by the end of January
2003 and I will organise copies to be ordered and sent. There
may be a small additional charge when the exchange rate and postage have
been worked out Catherine
Cooper, Spring
Conference FREE
CONFERENCE PLACES There
is no such thing as a free lunch but the next best thing is...... "Free"!
to someone willing to contribute 500 - 750 words giving an appreciation of
the conference including their personal reactions. Be creative and save
least £20!! Publications
Sub-Committee The
publication sub-committee welcomes contributions of up to 500 words, Deadline
for agreed BAPPS Conference write ups to be received by the committee Deadline
for next edition of newsletter 31 March 2003 Please
send to Ted Martin -
tedmartin71@hotmail.com
Conference
Committee DO
YOU USE TAPES IN SUPERVISION? DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO DOES? Imre
Szecsody's seminar at the Autumn Conference suggested taking audio-taping
seriously as a method for training students and researching the
supervisory process. So the Conference Committee is planning an event for
next autumn to explore this theme with a debate. We are looking for
someone who is prepared to speak for about 20-30 mins on the advantages of
using audio-tapes in therapy and supervision. If you have experience of
audio-taping or know someone who does,
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