I offer online supervision for on- and off-line counselling or psychotherapy practice.
My work is particularly suited to experienced counsellors and psychotherapists who are looking for supervision with genuine depth that systematically combines perspectives, or those who find themselves addressing practice issues for which training was incomplete preparation. Real-world clinical situations make different demands than most of our tidier, more theory-driven training settings, and require pragmatic, creative responses that focus on the delivery of quality care.
I don't do supervision-by-numbers. After 25+ years supervising practitioners I've learned that good supervision is about helping you think clearly about difficult work. It is not ticking boxes or recycling what we were taught, and it is rare that theory should not be questioned before being applied.
My approach is pluralist. Not "pluralistic" as a trendy label, but as a framework I helped develop over decades to understand how we can do full justice - and no harm - to the delicate processes involved in therapy. It means I draw on person-centred work, transactional analysis, psychodynamics, CBT, and other approaches as they're actually useful to you and your clients. Evaluating our work from many perspectives is much more useful than taking any single perspective as automatically the most important.
I take your questions seriously. If something you were taught doesn't sit right, or your practice is raising questions you haven't addressed before, that's what supervision should be for.
I Chaired BACP's Research Committee and founded their Research Department back when the profession was still figuring out what our relationship with evidence-based practice should be (this was the subject of my first book). I co-authored the first code of ethical guidance for online therapy in the late 1990s and have been working online ever since. I helped found the Online Therapy Institute and the creation of our gold-standard trainings and publications for mental health care at a distance, so I understand both the particular challenges of remote practice and the nonsense that sometimes gets talked about it.
I have taught at several UK Universities and led the DPsych at Metanoia for over a decade. I still supervise doctoral, post-doctoral and practice-based research.
I've supervised and worked clinically in settings from counselling agencies to universities, primary and residential care, private practice and several countries around the world. I've worked in mental health care since the 1980s, worked in famine relief, developed innovations in services and have run an independent practice for years.
What I bring is depth of experience, a genuinely pluralist understanding of therapeutic work, and a low tolerance for professional bullshit.
Format: Individual supervision (45, 60 or 90 minutes) or small group supervision.
Frequency: Usually monthly or fortnightly, depending on your caseload and needs.
First session: We meet to see if we're a good fit. Only charged if we decide to proceed.
Approach: Pluralist and continuously reflective. We review how supervision is working as we work. You can raise concerns or questions about the process anytime.
You're newly qualified and realising your training gave you frameworks but not necessarily wisdom. You want supervision that helps you think through what you're doing, not just apply formulas.
Or you're experienced and looking for supervision with intellectual depth and clinical seriousness - someone who's been around long enough to know what matters and what doesn't.
You might be working online, face-to-face, or both. You might be in private practice, an agency, the NHS, a university setting or a school or somewhere else. The setting matters less than whether you want to think carefully about difficult work.
If this sounds like the kind of supervision that might work for you, email me:
Tell me a bit about your practice, what you're looking for in supervision, and we'll arrange an initial conversation to see if we're a good match.
If you want a more detailed account of my work, for supervision see this page, while if you are interested in counselling with me see this page.
Stephen Goss
BACP Registered Counsellor & Clinical Supervisor
West London / Colne Valley