Mindfulness and Compassion in Integrative Supervision

‘This excellent book from two very experienced supervisors integrates the wisdom of mindfulness and compassion into the art and science of clinical supervision. It offers a deep dive into the many complexities of the therapeutic and the supervisory relationships. It highlights the importance of and ways of helping the supervisee be grounded in the body and settled in the mind, which facilitates openness to supervision and the long journey into developing mentalization and many other psychotherapy skills. I learnt much from this very accessible and richly informative volume and will be a repeat returner.’

Paul Gilbert,PhD, FBPsS, OBE, Professor of clinical psychology, University of Derby, President of the Compassionate Mind Foundation, Founder of Compassion Focused Therapy

‘Žvelc and Žvelc’s masterful book on supervision invites the reader to embrace mindful awareness, interpersonal compassion, and self-compassion — essential process that facilitate a transformation of supervisee’s possible emotional dysregulation and vicarious trauma into a calm therapeutic presence. While most mindfulness approaches focus on mindfulness and compassion as a technique to be learned by the client or therapist, the authors emphasize the importance of bringing mindfulness and compassion to the heart of the supervisory relationship, to the benefit of clients, supervisees, and supervisor.’

Richard G. Erskine, PhD, Institute for Integrative Psychotherapy; Professor of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Deusto, University, Bilbao, Spain

‘Themes of mindfulness and compassion have become increasingly prominent in the thinking of psychotherapists of widely varying orientations. Maša and Gregor Žvelc have brought the wisdom of innovative and integrative therapists to the application of these critical themes to the realm of supervision. In doing so, they have made a valuable contribution not only to our thinking about supervision but to our understanding of therapy as well.’

Paul L. Wachtel, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, City College of New York, Past President, Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration

‘Following on from their excellent book, Integrative psychotherapy: A mindfulness- and compassion-oriented approach, Maša and Gregor Žvelc bring us another application of their integrative approach, this time, to supervision. The authors offer the reader a lovely integration of theory with practice, with lots of vignettes. This is book which, while retaining its focus on supervision, brings and offers a breadth and depth of knowledge. Apart from their mindfulness and compassion for their supervisees, trainees, and colleagues – as well as the reader –authors also bring a generosity of spirit to these pages. I highly recommend this book.’

Dr Keith Tudor, Professor of Psychotherapy, Auckland University of Technology

‘This book is an essential resource for integrating mindfulness and compassion-oriented practice into supervision. Drs. Žvelc and Žvelc provide a thorough theoretical framework, along with tons of vignettes and exercises that supervisors can read today and use tomorrow. These lessons offer mental health professional innovative, yet practical ways to relate to themselves in times of difficulty and stress, a benefit they can pass along to their clients.’

Susannah Coaston, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Northern Kentucky University

‘In this groundbreaking and exciting book, Maša and Gregor Žvelc use the latest findings on physiological synchronization and memory reconsolidation to offer unique methods for developing mindfulness and compassion, first in the relationship between supervisor and supervisee and then between supervisee and client. Their transtheoretical, phenomenological, and experiential approach to supervision is intuitive and easily understood. The book is sure to become an excellent inspiration for supervisors and therapists of all contemporary schools of psychotherapy.’

Jan Benda, Ph.D., Charles University, Prague

‘This book by Maša and Gregor Žvelc is a superb addition to the supervision literature, a valuable resource for both beginning supervisees and those experienced in the field. It is an excellent follow-up to their book on Integrative psychotherapy, bringing a similar mindful, compassionate approach to supervision and emphasising the importance of here and now body awareness and autonomic regulation within the supervisory relationship. This is a treasure trove of a book, integrating theory and innovative ideas, practice and techniques.’

Joanna Hewitt Evans, Gestalt and Integrative Psychotherapist, Supervisor and Trainer in private practice, United Kingdom. Secretary, European Association for Integrative Psychotherapy

‘Žvelc and Žvelc have elegantly brought together a number of contemporary themes in psychotherapy practice and woven them into a research-based and coherent model for supervision. The book is rich with nuggets of wisdom that I am certain will inspire both new and experienced supervisors alike. By combining mindfulness with compassion-oriented principles, and current thinking on interoception and emotion regulation, Žvelc and Žvelc have developed a conceptual framework which will naturally lead to a deepening of reflection and increased capacity for here and now relational contact for both the supervisor and supervisee.’

Mark Widdowson, UKCP registered psychotherapist, senior lecturer in counselling and psychotherapy, University of Salford