Identifying ruptures and repairs in alliance-focused training group supervision

Abstract

Group supervision presents unique opportunities for psychotherapy trainees to deepen their understanding of alliance ruptures and repair strategies. Trainees can explore challenging clinical moments and benefit from diverse perspectives and support. Group supervision also provides trainees with multiple opportunities to experience ruptures and repairs firsthand in their interactions with the supervisor and other group members. More research, particularly research using observer-based methods, would enhance our knowledge of rupture and repair processes in group supervision. In this study, seven sessions of Alliance-Focused Training, a group supervision that specifically aims to improve trainees’ abilities to recognize and negotiate ruptures, were coded for alliance rupture markers and repair strategies using a modified version of the Rupture Resolution Rating System (3RS). Excerpts of the coded sessions were used to illustrate AFT process in the absence of ruptures, and in the context of ruptures between the supervisor and trainees, between trainees, and between a trainee and the group. There were no clear examples of ruptures between trainees. The ruptures between the supervisor and the trainees were deemed to have only a minor impact on the alliance, and these minor ruptures were at least partly addressed. Based on the coding, themes related to supervisor authority, complex and subtle ruptures, and the use of metacommunication within the AFT group were discussed. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that the 3RS can be useful for measuring process in group supervision and that greater attention to group process and ruptures within the group holds promise for enhancing the effectiveness of AFT.