I believe that supervision is one of the most important aspects of personal and work development. That is why I have trained to be a supervisor and I have supervision for my counselling, hypnotherapy and coaching practice.
So what is supervision?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary supervision is
‘An act of watching a person or activity and making certain that everything is done correctly, safely etc.’
So is this picture demonstrating supervision? The answer is it might be because the man might be supervising the people learning to swim. In the world of counselling, hypnotherapy and coaching supervision is very different.
Professional supervision for counsellors, hypnotherapists and coaches is different because the supervisor and person supervised usually talk about practice as the supervision is rarely happening at the same time as the practice. Most counsellors, hypnotherapists and some coaches work alone and their relationship with their client is confidential, so someone sitting in the room and watching the person at work would not be ethical or practicable without explicit consent from the client.
So what is professional supervision?
Let’s start with what it isn’t…
It’s not a cosy chat with tea and cake, but you could include those niceties!
It’s not counselling the person being supervised even if they do have personal issues that need to be addressed.
It’s not teaching, but it will help both the supervisor and the supervised to learn and develop practice.
It’s not necessary to have an expert in the field as a supervisor, although many supervisors are experienced and considered experts.
It’s not a day out, although people undertaking supervision will need to plan their day to take time out.
Professional supervision is:
- Regular, pre-booked time, contracted and usually one hour in duration.
- Respecting the confidentiality of the client and others so names and identifying factors are not used.
- Professional support for the person being supervised and helping them with any worries or stresses related to practice.
- Enhancing problem-solving skills and making better decisions.
- Checking the safety and well-being of the client and the people around them.
- Reviewing policies, procedures, ethics and the law together.
- Reflection on practice for the supervised person.
- Consideration of any charity or employer obligations.
- Checking the relationship between the client and the person being supervised.
- Developing new knowledge and skills.
- Meeting the requirements of the Professional Body that the supervised person belongs to.
Professional supervision is usually with one supervisor and one supervisee, however, group supervision and peer supervision is also possible. These days remote supervision is becoming more popular via Skype, so distance is never a problem when looking for a suitable supervisor.
I provide face to face and group supervision in Bournemouth, Dorset or Skype supervision to people further afield.