Each month, we showcase a member-suggested podcast episode as part of OSRP’s effort to bring you micro-reviews of insightful content in the field of psychotherapy. All materials are available free of charge as part of our member engagement initiative.

We invite you to submit podcast episodes that you found inspiring or educational. If your suggestion is accepted, you’ll also be compensated for your time. Enjoy, and happy listening!

(These podcast recommendations are for inspiration and learning. They don’t replace supervision, instruction, or CRPO regulations, and OSRP doesn’t officially endorse the content. Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and use your professional judgment in applying what you learn.)

Behind the Curtain of Supervision

Reviewer’s Name: Rachel Fulford, Clinical Member, OSRP

Title of Podcast Series: Three Associating: Relational Adventures in Psychoanalytic Supervision

Title of Episode: I’m Not OK That You’re OK

Date released: May 11, 2025

Link to Episode

Who Will I Hear?

(Left to right) Rachael Burton, Prof. Gillian Straker (Supervisor), and Dr. Andrew (Andy) Geeves.

Professor Gill Straker, the supervisor, brings 30+ years relational psychotherapy practice (privately and in psychotherapy institutes) to her work as teacher and mentor. She wrote “Faces in the Revolution” and co-authored “The Talking Cure.”  The supervisees, who alternate each week in presenting cases, are Rachael Burton and Dr. Andrew (Andy) Geeves - both actively in private practice in Australia

What’s It About?

Andy brings an ethical challenge he’s facing with a client who says he’s ready to leave therapy because he’s overcome his shame about being “not a good person” who disappoints others, but his hurtful behaviour hasn’t changed a bit. Andy is horrified to have helped this guy accept his own flaws without seeking to change. Andy isn’t so sure that the therapy is really over but doesn’t want to impose his own morality – what to do?

Supervisor Gill engages deeply with Andy’s dilemma, inviting many possibilities including “projective identification,” a much-misunderstood concept. Gill invites both Andy’s and the client’s own suppressed moral compasses into consideration.

And speaking of morality, as the hosts indicate: “While reasons of confidentiality and privacy mean that none of the patients we discuss are real, the relational dynamics are.”

How Can It Help?

Every less-than-30-min episode provides a peek behind the scenes at an attuned and insightful supervisory dynamic. Each concludes with a distillation of learning, with an articulation of the therapist’s blind spots (including bright spots and dark spots). If therapy involves making the unconscious conscious for the client, this helps the therapist do the same.

Why Does This Reviewer Love It?

The camaraderie amongst these three is infectious. To listen is to feel part of their collegial bond while building competencies. This is a bonus for those of us who find top-quality supervision to be a scarce resource.

Also, the dilemmas that Rachael and Andy bring forward are deeply relatable, not exceptional. This creates comfort in knowing that the most common yet perplexing issues we run into in our work can be found all around the globe, and that introspection-with-another (ideally a trusted supervisor or peer) can be highly effective when we inevitably hit an impasse.

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