Narcissism, eroticism, and envy in the supervisory relationship

Supervision takes place in a framework of time, place, and duration agreed upon by teacher and student. But beyond the formal arrangements of supervision lie a host of behaviors that express conscious and unconscious fears and wishes that are aroused in student and teacher by their meetings. This paper focuses on supervisors' motivations for teaching, and the ways in which their narcissistic vulnerabilities and their feelings for their students may influence the frame of supervision and its outcome.