Relational and integrative supervision for counsellors, psychotherapists and trainee therapists

As in the therapeutic relationship with clients, the quality of our supervisory relationship is paramount to enabling the therapeutic process in turn with your clients. I work as a relational supervisor, which means that I hold a strong awareness of the quality of our connection as it is essential that you can feel comfortable enough to discuss any potential conflicts, difficulties or challenges without fear, shame and that we can explore these things if they arise for you.

Supervision can be either online or in-person, lasting 55 minutes. Sessions are usually once a month but we can negotiate when we are contracting the logistics of what you need and when you might want supervision.

As a supervisor, I am collaborative and encourage a mutual co-creation of a learning space through both cognitive and embodied processes, using active critical reflection to explore unconscious processes which occur between yourself as therapist and your clients, and between you and myself in the supervisory relationship.

I believe part of supervision’s responsibilities are to facilitate competency in your self-awareness, client accountability, professional growth and development and to offer open discussion of ethical considerations combined with a caring support for your overall wellbeing. I am to support you in maintaining a healthy work life balance and to hone awareness of potential compassion fatigue or burnout or work overload, by monitoring your emotional, relational and developmental needs. Mutual trust in our supervisory relationship is paramount, free of shame and judgement which challenges traditional power hierarchies in supervision.

One of my responsibilities is to listen to your varied needs from me and to adapt the supervisory relationship and what I provide, to tailor it the most therapeutic way to support you in supporting your clients. We do this from our first session in contracting together to meet your hopes, needs and expectations and re-visit this through review and re-contracting where appropriate or needed.

We can also work on achievable goals for your professional development which we can devise and work through together, if that might feel helpful. Another responsibility is for me to bring challenge in a non-shaming, curious and compassionate way. I also find it important to feel comfortable at times to be in the “not knowing” space so we can learn how to bear discomfort, the unknown and uncomfortable feelings together. I rely on staying attuned to my internal processes and also my somatic phenomenological experiences and sharing them with you.

In ethical decision making we will draw on our accrediting bodies ethical guidelines in which to support us in ethical challenges and dilemmas. Together we will enhance our ethical maturity as therapists by being willing to accept ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty.

I work integratively as a supervisor, drawing on many different models including Hawkins and Shohet's Seven-Eyed Model. I favour approaches that are supervisee-led, democratising, and promote mutual respect between professionals in the supervisory relationship. As we begin working together, we'll explore which frameworks and approaches feel most helpful for you and your practice.