Page 45 - Petelin, Ana, Nejc Šarabon, Boštjan Žvanut, eds. 2017. Zdravje delovno aktivne populacije ▪︎ Health of the Working-Age Population. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
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roduction: Supervision came to flourish in the last century when it was un- 4. znanstvena in strokovna konferenca z mednarodno udeležbo 43
derstood chiefly as a method of learning and spreading psychoanalytical ex-
pertise. Today, it involves much more than learning and is important in ma-
ny fields, e.g. social work, psychology, psychotherapy and education, where its
role includes ensuring emotional support or regulation to the supervisees. In
the process of helping people who have experienced loss or trauma, the ex-
perts themselves often experience emotional distress, which, if left unrecog-
nized and not worked through, can lead to emotional exhaustion and burn-
out. Regulation of emotional responses and related prevention in anticipation
of the above problems takes place in safe relationships such as relational su-
pervision, which focuses on examining emotional processes and creating safe
attachment within the triadic user-expert-supervisor system. Method: This is
a qualitative study consisting of two parts. The first part included five experts
in various fields who replied to a semi-structured questionnaire comprising
open questions which related to aspects of their work experienced as chal-
lenging and difficult. The information provided was processed by content anal-
ysis. The second part is a case study describing a therapist included in rela-
tional supervision and working on a regular weekly basis with a user who has
suffered trauma. Information was collected from a questionnaire completed
by the therapist before and after three supervision sessions, audio recordings
of the supervision sessions and a closing interview. This was followed by a phe-
nomenological data analysis. Results: The results give insight into the scope of
challenges faced by the helping professions, how these challenges are expe-
rienced emotionally and how this experience relates to the experts’ attitude
to themselves and their professional and other relationships. A good supervi-
sion experience indicates the importance of recognizing and verbally express-
ing feelings, particularly uncomfortable ones, and providing emotional support
to experts. The case study the reveals intrapsychic experience of a therapist
working with trauma and a changed perspective of themselves and the thera-
peutic process following supervision. Discussion: The study findings show that
regulation of emotional responses through supervision enables changes in how
experts experience themselves and their professional role, which is an impor-
tant factor of preventing emotional exhaustion. On the basis of the findings it is
proposed that supervision should be a right granted to employees in the help-
ing professions in light of ensuring their health.
Key words: relational supervision, helping professions, emotional exhaustion,
burn-out, emotional regulation
derstood chiefly as a method of learning and spreading psychoanalytical ex-
pertise. Today, it involves much more than learning and is important in ma-
ny fields, e.g. social work, psychology, psychotherapy and education, where its
role includes ensuring emotional support or regulation to the supervisees. In
the process of helping people who have experienced loss or trauma, the ex-
perts themselves often experience emotional distress, which, if left unrecog-
nized and not worked through, can lead to emotional exhaustion and burn-
out. Regulation of emotional responses and related prevention in anticipation
of the above problems takes place in safe relationships such as relational su-
pervision, which focuses on examining emotional processes and creating safe
attachment within the triadic user-expert-supervisor system. Method: This is
a qualitative study consisting of two parts. The first part included five experts
in various fields who replied to a semi-structured questionnaire comprising
open questions which related to aspects of their work experienced as chal-
lenging and difficult. The information provided was processed by content anal-
ysis. The second part is a case study describing a therapist included in rela-
tional supervision and working on a regular weekly basis with a user who has
suffered trauma. Information was collected from a questionnaire completed
by the therapist before and after three supervision sessions, audio recordings
of the supervision sessions and a closing interview. This was followed by a phe-
nomenological data analysis. Results: The results give insight into the scope of
challenges faced by the helping professions, how these challenges are expe-
rienced emotionally and how this experience relates to the experts’ attitude
to themselves and their professional and other relationships. A good supervi-
sion experience indicates the importance of recognizing and verbally express-
ing feelings, particularly uncomfortable ones, and providing emotional support
to experts. The case study the reveals intrapsychic experience of a therapist
working with trauma and a changed perspective of themselves and the thera-
peutic process following supervision. Discussion: The study findings show that
regulation of emotional responses through supervision enables changes in how
experts experience themselves and their professional role, which is an impor-
tant factor of preventing emotional exhaustion. On the basis of the findings it is
proposed that supervision should be a right granted to employees in the help-
ing professions in light of ensuring their health.
Key words: relational supervision, helping professions, emotional exhaustion,
burn-out, emotional regulation
