[Team supervision in the psychiatric clinic--methods and practice]

In this article the supervision of psychiatric therapy teams is conceptualised within the overall framework of psychoanalytical theory and practice. Supervision can be interpreted as a process in the course of which there are scenic representations of unconscious conflict situations within the group of the team. These conflicts derive their dynamics from two different sources. On the one hand, we have a reflection of the therapeutic relationship between the team and the patient in the mutual relations between the team members themselves (this perspective has been adopted from the Balint group concept). On the other hand, we have, when discussing the case of a patient, a reversal of this perspective in so far as this discussion reflects the themes and conflicts originating from the professional socialisation of the team members. In this manner, supervision develops into a dialectic process that mutually interrelates these two poles of what goes on in the subconscious mind. This concept of supervision is demonstrated in detail by means of two case examples.