Social Constructionist Supervision or Supervision as Social Construction? Some Dilemmas

Abstract

In teaching and supervising postmodern approaches to therapy we face a number of dilemmas. Supervisees and supervisors may be confronted with ethical issues which challenge their consistent application of postmodern therapies. These challenges have the potential to limit discursive options by drawing us into either defending or abandoning particular therapeutic and supervisory models. This article identifies several ideas which help us move more fluidly between discourses in order to maintain a collaborative supervisory space with room for multiple perspectives regardless of the supervisee's clinical model. These ideas include aligning with the concept of supervision as social construction; meta-positioning in order to deconstruct all aspects of our work; remaining aware of the inherent power imbalances in the construct of supervision; and exploring ethical ideas through multiple lenses.