Craig A. Everett

Family therapy supervision: A review and critique of the literature

This article reviews literature related to family therapy supervision which appeared in major journals between 1980 and August, 1985. The authors conclude that the level of theoretical inquiry and research regarding family therapy supervision has not kept pace with broader developments in theory and practice in the field. A selected review of clinical supervision literature from allied disciplines is included to provide an impetus for the family therapy field.

Commentary on “Supervision as a Disciplined Focus on Self and Not the Other: A Different Systems Model” by Thomas J. Schur

Schur’s model of “Self-Based Supervision” is challenging and his presentation is engaging because it depicts his own personal search and pilgrimage for a thoroughly grounded systemic approach to the supervision of psychotherapy. His paper reads with the enthusiasm of someone who has integrated a variety of theoretical principles into a working whole that pragmatically informs his day-to-day clinical work. I commend him for sharing his personal process in this article and would certainly recommend a reading of this paper to other clinical supervisors and supervisors-in-training. However, the question for this commentary is: Does the SBS model offer a significant contribution to the literature of systemic supervision? From Schur’s acknowledged Bowenian roots he has attempted, ambitiously, to pull together a variety of resources ranging from language and “natural systems” (Bowen) to Maturana and Gestalt “figure/ ground theory.” However, he succumbs to a trap that many of us have visited in the past—allowing our good ideas to fall into a jumble of systemic jargon. Unfortunately, at times his explanation of this model is quite difficult to read and even more difficult to sort through the intended meaning of his points. The goal of his SBS model is “a strict focus on the self,” which includes that of the supervisor and supervisee. The model’s primary message for supervision appears to be that one should focus on: