Supervision in Transactional Analysis – Part 4

This post is a continuation of Marco Mazzettis’ article on ‘Supervision in Transactional Analysis’. If you’re just joining us, you might want to start at Part One.

Identify Key Issues

I think that discounting may underlie most requests for supervision and that the discount matrix (Schiff et al., 1975, p. 16) is useful for identifying key issues (see Figure 1). “Where is the discount?” is a question to bear in mind when discussing the contract with trainees. Discounting at any level automatically entails a discounting of all the areas below and to the right as shown on Figure 1. This can guide us in discussing contracts because, for example, there may be little sense in agreeing on “finding alternatives” if the problem has not been clarified and the initial discount occurs at that level or at the level of the stimulus.

In general, with beginning therapists, discounting will more frequently occur in the upper left quadrant (T1 and T2: existence and significance of stimuli and problems). The greater the trainee’s expertise, the greater the likelihood that discounting will occur in the lower right quadrant (T5 and T6: person’s ability to solve problems and person’s ability to act on options). This matrix helps identify areas of risk. Discounting at the higher levels may mean the trainee is ignoring important stimuli or that he or she does not consider their meaning. In psychopathology this may mean missing major symptoms, such as discounting the risk of suicide or violence or some ethical aspect that may endanger the trainee or the client. Here, the supervisor’s task, especially with trainees in the earlier stages of training, is to ask ad hoc questions in search of specific instances of discounting in the upper levels of the matrix.

Clarkson (1992) defined five categories of key questions in supervision: diagnosis and treatment planning, strategies and intervention techniques, parallel process, countertransference and supervisee’s personal issues, and ethics and professional practice. The discount matrix can be applied effectively with each of these categories.

Establish Effective Emotional Contact with the Trainee

A few years ago, while preparing for my TSTA exam, I asked Fanita English for supervision. Generous with strokes, Fanita congratulated me on the efficacy with which I had identified the key to the clinical problem; however, she pointed out that I had neglected to address my supervisee’s emotions. She helped me to recognize the trainee’s emotions, give them meaning, and offer information on how they could be worked with operationally. That day I understood that doing supervision is not just the discussion of a clinical case but also a way of taking care of a colleague who has asked for supervision, and through him or her, the client.

Figure 1
The Discounting Matrix (from Macefield & Mellor, 2006, p. 46)