The take over of parent-child dynamics in a supervisory relationship: Identifying the role transformation

The literature on supervision discusses processes occurring in the supervis or-supervisee relationship that are similar to, and have parallels in, a pa rent-child relationship. This slipping from the one type of relationship in to the other can interfere with the process of supervision. This shift to t he supervisee feeling like a child and the supervisor like a parent is liab le to be the natural outcome of transference and counter-transference. The aim of this paper is to examine the pseudo-parental role of the supervisor, in order to make supervisors more aware of, and alert to, the possibility that their supervision of young workers may slip into a parent-child mode, to identify critical points where parental feelings may intrude on supervis ion, and to suggest a useful support model that can help prevent this intru sion.