Supervision
My Philosophy of Supervision
I am a fully accredited Supervisor with the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) and I offer supervision to counsellors, psychotherapists and those who work in the helping professions both within Ireland and globally. Supervision is that of a collegial working alliance involving the active and willing participation of supervisor and supervisee where the supervisee can present their prepared case notes in a spirit of mutual respect, empathy and congruence. It is a reflective and supportive space where the supervisor provides super-vision and constructive feedback to the supervisee, allowing them to become an ethically competent, confident and creative practitioner.
The core modalities upon which I base my supervision practice include the Cyclical, the Process and the Developmental models. According to Paige and Wosket(2015) the primary purpose of supervision is to enhance the therapeutic value of the therapeutic process and to promote the growth of therapeutic competence in the supervisee. I like that the Cyclical Model provides a strong framework and clear guiding principles of Contract, Focus, Space, Bridge and Review so that, as supervisor, I can work collaboratively and collegially with my supervisee as they present their client work dilemmas. I particularly like the idea that I can successfully integrate aspects of Hawkins and Shohet’s seven-eyed model (Hawkins and McMahon, 2020) during the Space stage of the Cyclical Model, allowing me to add depth and meaning to the supervisory process. I realise that during the supervisory process I need to also be more facilitative than directive, encouraging my supervisees to think for themselves. The seven-eyed model approach allows both supervisee and supervisor the opportunity to focus on the client, strategies and interventions utilised as well as reflecting on the different relationships involved in the supervisory process, ultimately adding a richness to the supervisory experience. I believe that having a knowledge and understanding of Stoltenberg and Delworth’s (2010) Integrative Developmental model will help me in my supervision practice to provide the appropriate support to my supervisees depending on their developmental stage, whether apprentice, journeyman or master. I would hope to move from providing a clearly structured and supportive environment for my supervisees in the early stages through the emotional containment and becoming unconsciously conscious stage, progressing to a more collegial holding and awareness of unconscious processes and dynamics and finally arriving at the peer level consultation stage. Therefore, my philosophy of supervision in relation to the use of core modalities would be to integrate all three frameworks so that my supervisees can feel grounded and supported in their supervision sessions.
As a supervisor I strive to show respect, acceptance and empathy to my supervisees, providing them with a safe, supportive, receptive, accessible space for us to discuss and reflect on their clients. I endeavour to pay attention to my supervisee’s developmental needs, and provide them with constructive feedback and evaluation of their practice while also remaining open to receiving feedback on the quality of our supervisor/ supervisee relationship and practice. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and skills where appropriate while also providing opportunities for skills practice when necessary. My goal is to establish the necessary holding relationship for managing challenging situations that may arise for the supervisee by holding both authority and a sense of ongoing enquiry, thereby having the ability to do whatever might be necessary, whether that be to take action or hold back. I continue to keep an open, reflective stance and engage in supervision of supervision in accordance with ethical guidelines. Finally, as a supervisor and psychotherapist, I remain committed to working within the guidelines of the Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy Code of Ethics (IACP).
