The real relationship in psychotherapy supervision

While the real relationship has long been addressed in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, the matter of the real relationship in psychotherapy supervision has yet to receive any attention. Ample supervisory focus has indeed been given to the working alliance and transference-countertransference configuration (including parallel processes), but after a century of psychotherapy supervision, any mention whatsoever of real relationship phenomena is absent. In this paper, the following hypotheses are proposed: The real relationship (1) is a crucial component of the supervision relationship that has transtheoretical implications; (2) exists from the moment supervision begins until its end; (3) is the forever silent yet forever substantive contributor to supervisory process and outcome; (4) exerts a significant impact on (a) the development and establishment of the supervisory working alliance and (b) the unfolding and eventual utilization of the transference-countertransference experience in the supervisory situation; (5) consists of at least two dimensions in supervision--realism and genuineness--that vary along valence and magnitude continua (building on the works of Greenson and Gelso), and (6) deserves a place of eminence equal to the working alliance and transference-countertransference configuration if supervision theory, practice, and research are to be most fully informed. The possibility of using recent real relationship research in psychotherapy as a prototype to inform future research in supervision is presented, and two case examples are provided to illustrate the seeming power of real relationship phenomena in psychotherapy supervision.