Working under supervison means that a counsellor or psychotherapist uses the services of another counsellor or psychotherapist to review their work with clients, their professional development, and often their personal development as well. Supervision is a professional service, rather than a managerial role, and for counsellors who work in institutions, supervision and management will normally be entirely separate. The supervisor acts not as a 'boss', but as a consultant to the counsellor.
Clinincal Supervision exists for two reasons:
- To protect clients, and
- To improve the ability of counsellors to provide value to their clients.
Supervision protects clients by involving an impartial third party in the work of a counsellor and client, helping to reduce the risk of serious oversight and helping the counsellor concerned to reflect on their own feelings, thoughts, behaviour and general approach with the client. Names of clients are with held to preserve confidentiality wherever possible.
The practice of supervision means that many details provided by clients are shared with people other than the counsellor concerned. However, overall client confidentiality is still safeguarded because:
individually identifying information (such as full name) is not revealed, and
information shared in supervision is itself protected under a contract of confidentiality and normally may not be shared outside the supervision relationship.
In other words, while some client details are shared within the supervision relationship, these are not traceable back to the specific individual client, and they do not normally pass beyond the supervision relationship.
Some counsellors also use group supervision, in which several therapists confer on each other's
work, although ordinarily this is used in addition to individual supervision, rather than as a
replacement.
WHO NEEDS CLINICAL SUPERVISION?
Not only do most professional bodies in the UK such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy require supervision, but it is also seen by many as an ethical imperative for all counsellors and psychotherapists, regardless of experience. A client who encounters a therapist working without supervision should probably consider carefully whether they wish to work with that therapist.
I offer clinical supervision for individuals and groups.
Please call me for further information. |
