Clinical Supervision
I am a BACP accredited counsellor and I am available for clinical supervision for both qualified and trainee counsellors and couples therapists.
Perhaps you trained in an integrative framework and are looking for a supervisor who is experienced in the full breadth of humanistic, psychodynamic and behaviourist streams of thought.
Or maybe you trained in one orientation, but are now looking to extend your knowledge base and develop your practice.
Whether you are in training, placement, setting up or established in private practice, I can help.
I have experience of both long and short-term work with a wide variety of clients.
As well as being a requirement of both training courses and registering bodies such as BACP, adequate supervision is essential for the practicing counsellor to gain and maintain perspective on the work.
Since qualifying in an integrative model, I have undertaken further training in assessment, couples counselling and supervision as well as various CPD courses.
I work in an open-minded way, holding ideas lightly, using psychological theories as working maps through which to consider client material and therapist-client dynamics.
Clinical Supervision Theoretical Approach
A brief breakdown of my theoretical approach would look something like this:
- A Person-Centred way of being with clients, rooted in Rogers’ core conditions
- A feelings-based approach, using bodily sensations as a rich data source
- A psychodynamic underpinning, always considering unconscious motivations, transference, countertransference etc.
- Lots of use of Transactional Analysis – both in understanding dynamics in and outside the consulting room, and in offering e.g. the Drama Triangle and PAC models as psychoeducative aids to clients
- Use of genograms (systemic approach)
- An existential perspective – the search for purpose, impact of existential aloneness/death anxiety
- Attachment theory as a tool for understanding interpersonal dynamics and the impact of attachment, separation and loss
- A Jungian approach to dreamwork, plus use of Myers-Briggs, as self-knowledge promotes understanding and acceptance, which promote change
- CBT tools considered useful in examination of evidence, questioning cognitive distortions etc., plus as homework exercises
- Above all the relationship always comes first
Attitude to Clinical Supervision
If any of the above currently means little or nothing to you don’t panic! I am very down-to-earth and adept at explaining complicated ideas clearly.
Flexibility is key to my approach to clinical supervision. We will move freely among different theoretical concepts without becoming tied to one particular explanation of what is happening in the client’s life, or the consulting room.
I offer practical help, including a variety of intervention ideas informed by the above.
The risk of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma can be great when working with distressed individuals. I am supportive and able to manage anxiety and all the other feelings brought up for you by client work. I offer practical advice for self-care and the avoidance of stress and burnout.
Supervisees have a lot to teach supervisors too and I am always open to learning. This might include specific expert knowledge, new areas covered in CPD, or more general learnings from personal experience or client work.
(I personally identify as a Highly Sensitive Person, and am working to expand awareness of this personality trait among UK practitioners and the general public.)
We will consider contextual issues, maintaining awareness of the impact of the wider world on the therapeutic process.
Overall, I approach supervisory work as I do therapy, with patience, humility, and a sense of humour. If you are interested in meeting to discuss how we might work together, please get in touch.
