The self-of-therapist: a new task for emotion-focused therapy supervision

In emotion-focused therapy (EFT), it is not uncommon for therapists to experience intrusive therapist reactions (ITR) to their work with clients, interfering with their therapeutic focus and the provision of Rogerian core conditions. The EFT supervision manual suggests supervisors continuously monitor supervisee reactions and offer guided exploration of what has arisen. The presence of an ITR as a significant event in supervision indicates a marker to perform self-of-therapist work. This study presents a theoretical description of the stages of a new supervision task called the self-of-therapist (SOT) for working with ITRs in EFT supervision. Responding to ITRs and performing SOT work is viewed as critical for the development of EFT therapists. The SOT concept is defined and an EFT, process-oriented conceptualization of SOT is provided. The structure of the task is outlined, and case illustrations are provided. Future steps are then outlined for the task's further development.