January 2026 Clinical Supervision Topic: A Relational Orientation
This month is a short write-up, but a really important one.
It comes from our annual theme of Returning to Connection.
We’re going to focus our supervision sessions on staying in relational flow with clients. This comes from Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), which understands the therapeutic relationship as something that is continually unfolding, dynamic, and co-constructed. The relationship is a system shaped through presence, timing, resonance, and emotional availability, often outside of conscious awareness.
From this lens (and this is relatively new to me), connection isn’t built by monitoring ourselves or reaching for the “right” technique. It happens when we stay with the relationship, the human-- especially in moments of uncertainty, intensity, or not-knowing. When we trust the process and resist the urge to step out and manage ourselves, something settles. Felt safety, attunement, and integration tend to emerge on their own.
By the way, this all aligns with common-factors research (which we’ve spent 6+ years on), which consistently shows that outcomes depend less on specific interventions and more on the clinician’s capacity to remain emotionally available when things get charged.
Staying with is what we’re practicing here, not as a performance, but as a way of being in relationship. For many of us, this is a lifelong endeavor.
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
Oh, and here’s a very interesting Bonnie Badenoch interview that touches on this.
