Art-based supervision offers a visual and tangible medium through which supervisees can articulate experiences, express feelings, and explore client perspectives. These processes complement the hierarchical model of the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), and when used in supervision can facilitate supervisees’ self-examination of their role in the therapeutic process, highlighting interaction patterns, insights and actions for clients, practitioners, and supervisors (Riccardi et al., 2026).

Hinz (2020) proposed the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) as a theoretical framework to describe the choices, reflections, and actions of both the client and the art therapist. Using this framework in supervision can assist supervisees in understanding how the persons they serve perceive, organize, process, and express information through art and encourage self-reflection (Riccardi et al., 2026). This reflective practice improves their skills and helps ensure they are more attuned to clients’ needs.

The ETC model of supervision focuses on developing supervisee competencies and supporting the supervisory alliance, fundamental to the supervision process. Bordin’s (1979) seminal work elucidates the mechanisms that define client-therapist relational dynamics, comprising the therapeutic goals, tasks, and bond, and this concept has been extended to describe the supervisory alliance (Bordin, 1983). The ETC supervision model provides a framework for helping supervisees identify and build knowledge around the goals, tasks, and bond in art therapy. In this model, the goals of art therapy are described through the ETC framework. The tasks are defined through the Media Dimension Variables (MDV), the aspects of therapeutic tasks and media properties that therapists can suggest for client use. The bond in art therapy can be explored using the Expressive Therapist Self-Inquiry (ETSI), a tool for self-examination and reflection that helps the art therapist adjust behavior and expectations toward clients (Riccardi et al., 2023).

Supervision plays a pivotal role in categorizing types of expression and improving therapeutic outcomes, and the relationship between the supervisor and supervisee contributes to successful and effective supervision (Watkins et al., 2019). Park et al. (2019) provided evidence supporting a positive correlation between the quality of the supervisor-supervisee relationship and the quality of the supervisee-client relationship. The process of self-inquiry is fundamental to effective therapy and involves the trainee’s exploration of feelings, attitudes, and reactions in relation to life experiences and work with clients (Drapeau et al., 2021). This self-awareness is also central to providing effective therapy, as it helps therapists understand how personal experiences might influence therapeutic interventions (Gavron & Orkibi, 2021). The ETC model of supervision provides a framework for this self-examination, for supporting the supervisory alliance, and for teaching clinical skills.

Through role play, the presenters will bring to life the story of a supervisory relationship to illustrate the ETC supervisory model. The interventions will reveal practical challenges that may arise in professional practice. The case, derived from an authentic supervision process, will demonstrate how the ETC Supervisory Model emphasizes the enhancement of the supervisee's competencies and the supervisory alliance. Additionally, it will demonstrate the integration of art-based supervision offering guidelines for the professional development of the supervisee. The audience will have the opportunity to interact with the roleplay and give their perspectives on the themes presented. The panel discussion will review empirical research examining the art of supervision, highlighting a humble posture which safeguards the fundamental aspects of the working relationship (Gavron & Orkibi, 2021; Jeon & Myers, 2022). This panel will provide a collaborative demonstration and discussion with experts who apply the ETC as a conceptual framework in their supervisory practice to enrich the supervisory alliance.