Virginia Satir's Enduring Legacy - Exploring Her Clinical Supervision Practices Using Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics

Abstract

This research explores clinical supervision practice of Virginia Satir (1916-1988), a pioneer and master of family therapy, through studying the lived experience of 15 of her first generation students and interpreting a 10-minute supervision vignette. Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics was adopted as the methodological guideline. Satir's supervision practice is found to be located in the humanistic-existential-transpersonal paradigm, which addresses the issues of being and the manifestation of the Self prior to the issues of 'doing' and 'becoming' in supervision and counselling. On a whole, it reflected her central premise of "peoplemaking" through her devotion in unfolding with supervisees their inherent "treasure" and "resources". These processes call for supervisors to acquire a 'super vision' in the 'control tower position' and to co-explore with supervisees the possibilities that suit their unique situation. Satir's supervision was a co-discovery process toward better understanding of the 'selves' of supervisees and was an enhancement to their "third birth", which includes finding their own voice, freeing their "inner-healer" and being their own "choice maker". In turn through this process supervisees can facilitate their clients to do the same and move toward Satir's signature notion of "becoming more fully human". Satir was seen by interviewees as very loving, and encouraging, yet very tough at times. She evidently held steadfast beliefs about human potentials and was known for persistence in co-discovering with the supervisees what she referred to as "the magic" within each of them. Creating a growth enhancing environment, keeping an appropriate physical and psychological distance with supervisees, "leading by following half-a-step behind", teasing out universal human themes behind each presenting issue, and guiding supervisees through experiential processes toward gaining new insights are identified as some of the elements that contributed to the effectiveness of her approach to supervision.