Solitude and solidarit: a philosophy of supervision

The practice of analytic psychotherapy is a vocation that is an expression of an archetypal impulse. Psychotherapists are often seen to have taken over the role of priests: to be priests for a secular age. The identity of the analtyic psychotherapist is closer to that of the hermit. There are eight elements to the identity of the analytic therapist: solitude, humility, liminality, ecstasy, craft, shame, kindness and zeal. While supervision is not therapy it is an analytic relationship with the potential to damage or nurture the vocational aspirations of both participants.