Objectives: To explore the importance of supervision for Austrian mental health professionals, connections between the quality of the supervisory relationship, burnout symptoms, sense of coherence and attachment patterns were examined in this study.
Background: Supervision is an essential part of the training and work environment of mental health professionals, especially of psychotherapists. However, while the supervisory process is always a relational one, the importance of this relationship for the professional performance and the well-being of the supervisee has yet to be fully examined.
Materials and Methods: 346 Austrian mental health professionals (81.8 % female) completed an online survey containing a demographic assessment, the Supervisory Relationship Questionnaire (SRQ), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Experiences in Close Relationships – Revised (ECR-RD) and the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-13). 
Results and Conclusions: During the last two years, 95.4 % of the participants had been in supervision (35.5 % in individual supervision, 59.8 % in group supervision). A better supervisory relationship was related to more sense of coherence (r=.34) and fewer burnout symptoms (r=-.35; p<.01). While correlations of the quality of the supervisory relationship with anxious (AX, r=-.19) or avoidant (AV, r=-.18) attachment were relatively small, these attachment patterns were strongly related with sense of coherence (AX: r=-.54, AV: r=-.39) and burnout symptoms (AX: r=.43, AV: r=.30; all p<.01).
The results underline the importance of the supervisory relationship for the well-being and the professional performance of mental health professionals. Different aspects of the supervisory relationship and their connection to the goals of supervision should be further explored in future studies.

06 - THE SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP FROM AN ATTACHMENT PERSPECTIVE:  CONNECTIONS TO BURNOUT AND SENSE OF COHERENCE IN AUSTRIAN MENTAL  HEALTH PROFESSIONALS