Incidence and Effects of Parallel Process in Psychotherapy Supervision

The degree to which parallel process exists in supervision and the specific effects of parallel process from the viewpoint of the participants of psychotherapy supervision were investigated. Differences between supervisors and supervisees were examined as were differences between psychoanalytic and nonpsychoanalytic orientations. Three hundred subjects completed the Parallel Process Survey, which was designed specifically for this study. The results empirically validate the theoretical literature that suggests that parallel process exists, is utilized in psychotherapy supervision, is applicable to a variety of theoretical orientations, and has clear effects on the participants of psychotherapy supervision. While there was not unanimous agreement, very few subjects denied the existence of parallel process. Orientation differences were present, with the psychoanalytic orientation consistently reporting stronger existence and importance of parallel process and greater effects of parallel process than their nonpsychoanalytic counterparts.