Conference Agenda

This presentation draws on a clinical family therapy case conducted behind a one-way mirror with the involvement of a co-therapy team. It focuses on how specific inner voices emerged and shifted through the supervisory dialogue, and how these voices interacted with those evoked during a complex family therapy process marked by gendered dynamics. Through reflexive processes, the presentation examines how the family’s narratives, relational patterns and gendered positions elicited internal responses in the therapist. These internal responses influenced the therapist’s curiosity and emotional reactivity, and interacted with the outer voices emerging from the co-therapy team and the family.

During the sessions, family-emergent voices elicited protective, moral and gender related responses that at times constrained therapeutic neutrality and shaped the therapist’s stance. In supervision, new inner voices were identified, or previously suppressed ones became more pronounced, allowing the therapist to examine how these positions resonated with or confronted the family’s stories. The supervisory dialogue provided space to differentiate between immediate emotional reactions and therapeutically useful responsiveness, supporting a clearer understanding of how the therapist’s stance was formed within the interaction.

This analysis highlights therapeutic stance as a dynamic, dialogical outcome rather than a fixed role. The convergence of family-evoked and supervision-evoked voices, opened possibilities for therapeutic repositioning, enhanced reflexivity and a more anchored engagement with the clinical material. The implications for supervision emphasize its role in helping therapists navigate internal polyphony and maintain relational curiosity in demanding family therapy contexts.