Visibility in supervision

Analytic theorists have highlighted the significant contribution of the affirming and validating gaze of caretakers to the personal and relational development of those in their care. In contrast to this perspective, thinkers have also suggested that the caretaker’s gaze might objectify, shame, dominate, and debilitate these individuals, especially when they cannot reciprocate the gaze. I will examine this ominous aspect of the gaze in supervision, where supervisees present intimate therapeutic interactions, whereas supervisors, who closely observe their supervisees’ work, usually refrain from sharing such interactions. I will discuss the shame and persecutory fantasies awoken in supervisees by the asymmetry of visibility in the supervisory space. Furthermore, I will suggest how supervisors can alleviate the tension created by this asymmetry by adopting the position of negative capability, which facilitates an atmosphere of openness, expectancy, and mutuality.