It often happens that a supervisor starts hastily retelling a client case right off the bat. You can understand this, because in 50 minutes you need to not only describe the client and his problems, but also get answers to your questions. But! To get answers, you need to ask these questions. And precisely because time is very limited, it’s worth starting with them. Therefore, I always suggest that the supervisor first formulate the difficulty and request for supervision, and then talk about the client, his life, the therapeutic relationship, etc. This sequence helps the therapist present the case more focusedly, talking about the main thing and not wasting time (time something limited!). And it is clearer to the supervisor in which direction to “dig” - what to focus on, what to clarify. When formulating a request, it is also useful to clarify what to focus on during the supervision process. There are 7 focuses: three of them relate to the therapeutic system, three to the supervisory system, and the seventh focus relates to the context. Focus on the client - when the therapist needs to better understand the client, his characteristics, problems, life situation, etc. Focus on the therapist, his feelings, hypotheses and interventions; on motives, limitations, opportunities, etc. Focus on the therapy process: on the relationship between therapist and client and the dynamics of this relationship, on the features of contact and contract methods, on how sessions are held, on strategies and tactics of work, etc. d. Focus on the supervisee is already a focus within the supervisory system. How does the supervisor feel when presenting the case? Often supervisors literally “bring” the client to therapy, unwittingly imitating his manner of speaking or reproducing character traits. Or, on the contrary, demonstrates countertransference feelings directly in the supervisory session. A focus on the supervisory process is useful when one can notice parallels between the dynamics that unfold in supervision with what happens in therapy. The focus on the supervisor is on what images, metaphors, feelings arose during the presentation of the case. This helps break the deadlock when supervision is too focused on logical, analytical understanding. Focus on the context in which the therapeutic relationship unfolds. For example, the influence of the organization in which the therapist works, if it is not a private practice; influence of the professional community; ethical issues; intervention in therapy by relatives or third parties, etc. These three aspects: difficulty, request and focus must be logically interrelated. If, for example, I find it difficult to maintain time boundaries with a particular client, then the request might be: to explore why such a difficulty arises with this particular client and to understand how to maintain time limits in a session. Then the focus will be on the therapeutic system: on the characteristics of the client or the therapeutic relationship. If the difficulty in meeting time frames is not an exception, but a recurring difficulty for the therapist, then the request will most likely relate to his characteristics, knowledge and skills. And the focus can be both on the therapeutic system and on the supervisory system, if in supervision one can also notice difficulties with time management. And, returning to the beginning: in order not to waste precious minutes of the supervision session, the therapist should prepare for it in advance by asking himself the questions: What is my difficulty? What would I like to get from supervision to help me cope with this difficulty? What should I focus on in this case? And then the discussion of the case will be focused, and the work of the supervisor with the supervisee will be coherent and productive! I invite therapists to join a weekly supervision group with a permanent composition. Classes on Thursdays at 9.00 Moscow time. More information: https://www.b17.ru/trainings/svsl_group/