Whether we are in a couple ourselves, working with couples in therapy, or supporting supervisees who do, this work invites us into a dynamic, often emotionally charged relational field. Supervising therapists who work with couples brings particular challenges — how do we help our supervisees stay present to both partners, without becoming triangulated or swept into the emotional crossfire?
In this session, Malcolm Stern draws on decades of experience in therapy, couple work, and supervision to explore how we, as supervisors, can hold a strong and steady container — for our supervisees and ourselves. We’ll reflect on the parallel processes that arise in supervision, the transferences that may be evoked in us, and how our own experiences of being in relationship shape the lens through which we supervise.
Together, we’ll consider how to support supervisees in navigating conflict, maintaining therapeutic direction, and holding ethical clarity — all while staying open to the depth and richness that couple work brings.
This workshop invites supervisors — and all those reflecting on relationship — to explore not only what happens in the therapy room, but also what arises within us, and how supervision can model the very relational presence we hope to cultivate in others.
Course Content
Presenter
Malcolm Stern has worked as a group and individual psychotherapist for more than 30 years. He was a co-founder of Alternatives at St James’s Church in London and runs groups internationally.
He is the author of Falling in Love / Staying in Love (Piatkus 2004) and Slay Your Dragons with Compassion ( Watkins 2020). He co-presented Channel 4’s relationship series, ‘Made for Each Other’ in 2003 and 2004 and sailed on the ‘Rainbow Warrior’ with Greenpeace in the 1980s. The book he is currently writing is an exploration of the shadow and its necessity in our evolutionary development.
