Supervised psychoanalysis

---

title: "Supervised psychoanalysis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["psychoanalysis-by-type"] description: "Type of psychoanalytic treatment" topic_path: "general/psychoanalysis-by-type" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supervised_psychoanalysis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Type of psychoanalytic treatment ::

A supervised psychoanalysis or psychoanalysis under supervision is a form of psychoanalytic treatment in which the psychoanalyst afterwards discusses the psychological content of the treatment, both manifest and latent, with a senior, more experienced colleague.

The analyst who provides the supervision is called a supervising analyst (or less frequently supervisory analyst).

Training

Since 1925, supervised analyses have been a mandatory part of an aspiring analyst's psychoanalytic training within the International Psychoanalytical Association; and most training institutes ascribe great value to the experience of such an individual relationship about an analytic relationship.

A similar system was adopted after 1948 by the Society of Analytical Psychology.

The danger of uncritically applying insights drawn from the supervision directly to the analysis is however also recognised; and some would stress the importance of developing one's own internal supervisor, as opposed to merely reproducing someone else's thinking in the session.

Length

The term "supervised analysis" is flexible. It can be applied to such treatment lasting over several years or to a single session; while even practicing analysts will sometimes seek supervision and discuss a challenging case with a senior colleague, or resort to ongoing supervision at times of analytic difficulty.

Notes

References

1. [http://www.enotes.com/supervised-analysis-control-case-reference/supervised-analysis-control-case Roger Perron, Supervised analysis]
2. Janet Malcolm, ''Psychoanalysis; The Impossible Profession'' (1988) p. 54
3. J. Weiner et al, ''Supervising and being Supervised'' (2003) p. 83
4. Patrick Casement, ''Further Learning from the Patient'' (1990) p. 9
5. [http://www.enotes.com/supervised-analysis-control-case-reference/supervised-analysis-control-case Perron]
6. Casement, p. 124

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::