Problematic psychoanalytic supervision: An interpretative phenomenological analysis study

Problematic supervision has been found to be a common occurrence among psychotherapists worldwide. Although there are some research studies that explore therapists' experiences of problematic supervision, the literature on such experiences in the context of psychoanalytic supervision is limited. This study, as part of a larger study, explored psychoanalytic psychotherapists' experiences of problematic supervision. Using semi-structured interviews, 14 professional psychoanalytic practitioners were interviewed. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed for data analysis. Five themes were identified: feeling frustrated, hurting deprivation, holding back, losing my voice and challenging boundaries. This is the first study capturing professional psychoanalytic therapists' lived experiences of problematic supervision. The findings emphasise a need to take into account the supervisees' conceptualisations about their difficult experiences in order to conduct supervision in a way that is meaningful and accessible for them. The study findings can be extended by future studies that explore the supervisors and the clients' experiences of supervision. Further implications for practice and policy and recommendations for future research are discussed.