Co-Supervisees as Siblings: A Study of Student Trainees Sharing the Same Supervisor NEHAMI BAUM The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Israel This qualitative study identifies similarities in relationships between co-supervisees sharing the same fieldwork supervisor and that of siblings in the same family. Social work students’ written replies reveal a range of functions served by the co-supervisee, similar to some of the functions served by siblings, as well as a mixture of positive and negative feelings toward their co-supervisees resem- bling those of siblings toward one another. The findings highlight the importance of the co-supervisory relationship to students’ professional development. Practical recommendations focus on supervisor behaviors to encourage the potential benefits inherent in co-supervisory situations and ameliorate potentially negative impacts of co-supervisory rivalries. KEYWORDS co-supervisee relations, fieldwork supervision, professional parent, siblings, supervisors, supervisory relationship INTRODUCTION Much of the theoretical literature on one-to-one clinical supervision in the mental health professions views the supervisor-trainee relationship as some- what analogous to the parent-child relationship. Literature on supervisees’ professional development suggests that the supervisor and parent play simi- lar roles, with the supervisor responsible for the supervisees’ professional development, just as the parent is for the child’s personal development (Stolenberg & Delworth, 1987; Watkins, 1992). Alonso (1985) terms the supervisor the trainee’s ‘‘professional parent,’’ who instructs, supports, and nurtures interns in the formative phases of their professional development. In the literature on the supervision of student trainees, Itzhaky and Sztern Address correspondence to Nehami Baum, PhD, The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel 52900. E-mail: nehami@hotmail.com The Clinical Supervisor, 29:209–227, 2010 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0732-5223 print=1545-231X online DOI: 10.1080/07325223.2010.518508 209