The Columbia Supervision Project: Data from the dyad

Anonymous questionnaires were sent to all candidates and supervisors at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research therea fter "Columbia"). Questions focused on the four domains most emphasized in the literature on supervision: logistical issues; the "teach or treat" ques tion; the evaluatory function of the supervisor; and the affective experien ce of supervision. By coding the questionnaires, anonymity of respondents w as maintained while allowing for a matched pair of analyses of supervisors and supervisees. Return rate was over 85 percent. In general, rates of sati sfaction with supervision were high, and candidates and supervisors agreed on such issues as the "teach or treat" question, as well as the technical a nd theoretical frame of reference of the supervisor. However, there were st riking disagreements between candidates and supervisors as to the role of t he supervisor, what candidates find useful in supervision, the evaluatory f unction, and the relation between supervision and progression to graduation . Although 50 percent of candidates reported anxiety about receiving credit for cases, this was not routinely discussed in supervision, and the superv isory relationship itself was not discussed in over 50 percent of dyads. De spite high overall satisfaction ratings, 25 percent of candidates said they wished they had a different supervisor for the case, and 75 percent believ ed that a candidate who asked to switch supervisors would be labeled proble matic. In contrast, over 75 percent of supervisors reported that switching supervisors carries no stigma. In a follow-up study conducted one year late r, many candidates reported that they feared reprisals for switching, and s ome reported that their training analysts advised against "rocking the boat ." Candidates felt that participating in the study emboldened them to think more openly about supervision and in some cases to make changes.