Countertransference and clinical social work supervision: Contributions and considerations

Countertransference, once regarded as a major impediment in the therapeutic endeavor, is now generally held to be a potentially useful tool in the treatment and supervisory processes. These therapeutic and supervisory situations comprise aspects of both subjective and objective countertransference. A comprehensive review of the social work and psychoanalytic literature reveals several prevalent subjective countertransference themes in the supervisory situation, such as envy of the supervisee, an attitude of omniscience on the part of the supervisor, and factors relating to the supervisor's position in an institutional setting. Objective counter-transference elements are discussed in relation to reflection, parallel, multidimensional parallel, and triangulation processes.