Supervision

I offer both clinical and work supervision:

Clinical Supervision

As therapists and counsellors, we often work alone. It is therefore crucial to be in regular supervision, both as a professional requirement, and also to get support with our work and to guard against blind spots. I offer supervision to trainee counsellors/therapists who are working towards accreditation or just starting out, as well as experienced therapists. Sessions can either be individual or in a group. Group supervision is for a maximum of 4 therapists for 2 hours fortnightly. Participants are asked to commit to a term.

Work Supervision

Supervision has three main elements – accountability/management, professional development, and emotional/supportive. All too often supervision is not offered in the workplace, or the employee may feel that they are unable to explore these issues satisfactorily. I offer professional work supervision to employees. I have worked as an affiliate counsellor with various Employee Assistance Providers.

Accountability/management

Supervision is partly about control – the supervisor knowing what the supervisee is doing at work and having some say in what s/he does. This is necessary because the supervisor is accountable, to her/his seniors, to the organisation, and to the service users, for what the supervisee does (or doesn‘t do).

Professional development

This element is concerned with the development of the skills the supervisee needs to do the job, and to move forward. It is also about career development more generally. Therefore supervision should identify gaps in skills and knowledge and find ways to fill them. The training needs of the supervisee are therefore a part of this element. This needs to be done incrementally as an on-going process.

Emotional/supportive

Although supervision is about work, there may be other issues that affect work performance and space is given to encourage the supervisee to express how they are coping, any areas of stress, and how they are getting on with other members of staff. Supervisees may also wish to raise certain personal concerns or pressures from their private lives, which are currently affecting their performance at work.