Leaping‐in and leaping‐ahead: A hermeneutic phenomenological study of being‐responsible in psychotherapeutic supervision

Abstract Aims Psychotherapeutic supervision is a human‐to‐human encounter in which counsellors and psychotherapists regularly present their client case work. There are multiple theoretical and practical perspectives about what supervision is and how to do it. Yet, little is known about the day‐to‐day lived experiences of psychotherapeutic supervisors. This article reports on a key finding from a Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological research study which was concerned with uncovering what it is really like being a psychotherapeutic supervisor. Participants told many stories about experiences of heightened responsibility. They recounted how experiences of anxiety in specific supervisory encounters were intertwined with burdensome experiences of responsibility. Existing theories, practices and prescribed ethical guidelines on managing supervisory responsibility were of limited assistance to supervisors grappling with troubling supervisory experiences. Instead, to cope with the burden of responsibility, psychotherapeutic supervisors had common human experiences of ‘leaping‐in and leaping‐ahead’ of their supervisees, leading to hidden and unintended consequences for supervisees and supervisors. Conclusions Responsibility is inescapable in supervisory encounters and is fuelled by a mood of anxiety. The phenomenon of responsibility could be rendered more intelligible, in supervision consultation, by privileging, uncovering and dwelling in psychotherapeutic supervisors’ day‐to‐day lived experience of being‐responsible, while being mindful of what we already know about responsible supervisory practice.