If you are a therapist, why should you bother with supervision? Supervision often costs money and takes time, and once you have some therapy experience, you may think you don’t need it.
If this is you, stop for a few moments, and I will discuss supervision and tell you five important reasons why you should have supervision.
What is supervision?
In its simplest form, supervision is a meeting between two professionals to discuss work and self-development issues. Many professions, such as medical, legal, social work and therapy, use supervision to improve practice. However, the effectiveness of supervision can sometimes be difficult to measure.
Nevertheless
Supervision is first and foremost a process that is practised.
Henderson et al 2014. p 11.
However, it is not about managing the therapist or meeting a friend, although it can be a friendly relationship. Supervision required trust.
The functions of supervision will vary from profession to profession, but they will include:
- Management and quality of care
- Education
- Self-development
- Support
- Monitoring
As we know them today, supervision practices developed in the nineteenth century from social work. However, medicine and other professionals soon followed suit.
Professional supervision differs from a supervisory role in some jobs, for example, retail, as a range of professional issues need to be addressed, such as confidentiality, professional standards, responsibility and accountability, and ethical practice in the helping professions.
A supervisor in retail still needs to be mindful of risks and performance, but the supervisor is often in the working environment, whereas a therapist’s supervisor will not be able to observe the therapist’s work directly.
Professional supervision involves reflection on practice. It’s reflective learning and a compatible relationship.
There are many ways to deliver professional supervision. Some supervision is based on philosophies such as Peerson-centred Counselling or the psychoanalytic approach influenced by Freud.
Other supervision models are developmental and/or functional and try to move the supervisee through their career to become an expert.
Newer models use an integrative approach where several models are used together.
Solution-focused and strengths-based supervision is also more popular.
Ways to deliver supervision
Supervision can be offered internally by an organisation for their employees or externally by independent supervisors for organisations.
Trainee therapists are usually expected to have some supervision. The placement, training school, or, rarely, the trainee can pay for this.
Private practice therapists will seek their own supervision, usually from independent supervisors or those connected with training schools. Consequently, the therapists will pay for the supervision.
Supervision can be delivered by:
- One-to-one online or in the supervisor’s office.
- Small groups led by a supervisor.
- Peer groups that could involve several supervisors. All members will be experienced practitioners.
- Via the telephone.
The delivery method depends on the supervisee’s preferences, organisational requirements if working for an organisation, and years of experience.
Many professions also belong to professional bodies, and they will set standards about how many hours of supervision are required as a minimum.
Supervision isn’t the same as mentoring or coaching
Although there is some overlap, many people get supervision, mentoring and coaching muddled up.
Here are the key differences.
Mentoring
- Usually one-on-one with a more senior person.
- Usually provided by an experienced person or an expert in the same therapy field.
- Focused on techniques and showing you the process so therapists can do the job.
Coaching
- One-on-one with a coach online or in an office.
- It is orientated or a performance-driven exercise to help therapists improve.
- It is a stepped process to achieve goals.
- It may be offered by someone who does not know your therapy profession, for example, a business coach.
Supervision
- Based on reflective practice and models of supervision
- Client centred
- This can be offered as a one-on-one session with a supervisor or in a group. It can also be a peer group of experienced therapists.
Who needs supervision?
All therapists need supervision. Counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, hypnotherapists, and many complementary therapies, such as massage therapists, require it.
What happens in supervision?
An agreement should be reached before starting supervision so that it is clear what the supervisor and therapist’s roles are. This will also set boundaries for the time and payments involved.
In clinical supervision, the therapist brings anonymised client details to the meeting to discuss the care provided or to ask about techniques and the best way forward.
The client’s management might be discussed.
Any transference between the client and the therapist might be discussed.
Discussions may also include training, aspects of ethical practice, and the law or policies related to the profession.
Some supervision can be creative and use unconscious methods such as drawing, brainstorming and visualisations.
Achievements are celebrated.
5 Reasons Why You Need Supervision
If you are a therapist, you need supervision for the following reasons
- To meet professional standards and industry requirements so that high-quality care is provided for the client and the profession’s credibility is upheld.
- To learn and trigger new working methods through reflective practice and discussions about training requirements.
- To risk assess practice making therapy as safe as possible.
- To support the supervisees and check their health and well-being.
- To manage the business and the client process.
Where to find a supervisor
There are many places where any therapist can seek out a qualified supervisor.
They include:
- Lists on professional bodies’ websites
- Recommendations from
- Other therapists
- Training schools
- Therapy organisations and employer assistance programmes if you are registered with them.
In conclusion, supervision is more than a chat and a coffee. It’s more than talking about clients; it is an important process for professional therapists.
Qualified supervisors provide support and learn to maintain and raise professional standards.
I supervise hypnotherapists and counsellors online, either in small groups or one-to-one sessions. Find out more on my website and book a free 30-minute chat.
Reference
Henderson P., Holloway J., Millar A. 2014. Practical Supervision. London, Jessica Kingsley.
