Linking the Past to the Future: A Response to Franzen's Essay

Abstract

For me, Franzen’s article resurfaced some of the historical factors in the early days of the development of CPE. At some level, it resurrected the education vs. therapy debate. In New England, attention leaned toward methodological innovation leading to skill development and competence as the basis for professional formation. Cabot and Dicks emphasized the studentpatient relationship as the locus of learning. Meanwhile, in New York the dominant metaphors derived from Boisen and Dumbar focused on the psychodynamic approach to learning. Supervision focused on the supervisorstudent relationship and attention to the students’ insight into their own emotional world. Franzen’s article caused me to reflect once again on how close we remain to our own history. In the end, I find that historical perspective to be core to the ongoing vitality of clinical training and supervision.