A supervision experience at hospice

The author recounts 10 years of supervision in a hospice that welcomes the terminally ill. The supervision is aimed at operators engaged not only in physical care, but also in the care of the whole person, who in such a delicate phase of life requires special attention. The care staff are involved with their whole mind and body. This is true for any physical care situation, but in particular in hospices where the body and spirit of the patient are completely dependent on the care of the operators. The author considers the concrete bodies of operators and patients as a potential for evolving thought. Supervision also has a task of maintaining the healthy narcissism of the operators that helps them to maintain a good bond with their own self, including the body. Supervision meetings can be an opportunity to bring thoughts to light, they can activate a mental functioning capable of withstanding the impact with the some-times very strong emotions that are formed in a hospice, thanks to the emotional relationship that occurs. create in group. The author reports several episodes that emerged during the supervision meetings that show not only the difficulties that such a delicate work, in close contact with illness and death entails, but also the resources that these operators put in place. The reflections of the supervision meet-ings are also reported on their life outside the hospice, over the years the operators have begun to trust more in their listening and communication skills, they are able to stop and think even at home with their family members.

Keywords: supervision, hospice, operators, body, disease.

Chiara Nicolini, Una esperienza di supervisione all’hospice in "PSICOTERAPIA PSICOANALITICA" 1/2022, pp 146-154, DOI: 10.3280/PSP2022-001011