Clinical Supervision for Counsellors & Therapists
Looking for a confidential and boundaried relationship within which to deeply reflect on the frame and relational dynamics of your clinical practice? You’re in the right place.
Clinical Supervision is a contracted, confidential relationship between an experienced counsellor or therapist (known as the supervisor) and one or more counsellors or therapists (known as supervisees), where the focus of discussion is the supervisee’s work. Regular meetings give the opportunity to freely reflect on the themes arising in the supervisee's clinical practice, to explore new perspectives, weigh up ethical dilemmas and consider possible ways to proceed. Supervision also promotes professional development and self-care, and helps ensure that the supervisee is working in line with the law and ethically in the best interests of their clients.
I offer thoughtful, collaborative supervision for counsellors and therapists who want a calm, reflective space to pause, explore and develop their clinical practice. I value empathy and honesty in the supervisory relationship, creating a supportive secure base from which to work. Alongside discussion, I enjoy using creative materials and techniques when helpful for the supervisee to enrich clinical thinking.
I work both in-person with practitioners local to New Plymouth, and online with therapists based all over the world.
Supervision with me is a good fit if you want to:
-
Speak openly and honestly about your client work and clinical practice, without fear of judgment, in an independent confidential supervisory relationship
-
Reflect on your emotional reactions to clients, including the ones that feel uncomfortable
-
Take time to unpack confusion, stuckness and “not knowing”
-
Feel safe enough to share personal things about yourself and your own experiences which might be affecting how you practice
-
Explore the systemic and relational dynamics surrounding your client work with care and depth
-
Think through ethically complex situations and dilemmas
My model of clinical supervision
I aim to build an accepting and empathic relationship so you feel secure enough to be honest and talk freely about your clinical practice. I will encourage you to both celebrate successes and explore challenging situations or dilemmas.
Usually, each supervision session takes the form of a discussion relating to your counselling or therapy practice with a mutually agreed focus, reflecting on one or more aspects of your work. What we talk about is up to you and at each meeting I will ask you what you want to get out of the discussion. I see my role as primarily helping you to reflect; to offer you new perspectives and guidance if you are stuck; and to support you to develop professionally in line with your own aims and values.
Sometimes supervisees wish to share transcripts or recordings of their work with me and we reflect on these directly together (it is up to you as to whether you want to do this). With more experienced practitioners, I enjoy sometimes using creative materials and techniques to enrich clinical thinking.
I base my supervisory model on Hawkins and Shohet’s* 7 eyed model meaning I actively hold in mind and consider 7 aspects of therapeutic work:
-
the client
-
the therapeutic techniques used by the therapist
-
the relationship between client and therapist
-
the therapist’s process
-
the relationship between the therapist and supervisor
-
the supervisor’s process
-
the wider context (both organisational and societal) within which the counselling or therapy is taking place.
I also use aspects of Page and Wosket’s** cyclical model in that I seek a clear supervisory contract, to structure each session with a mutually agreed focus, and will explicitly ask supervisees how reflection in supervision will be applied in the counselling or therapy room.
I am trained as an Integrative counsellor and therapist. My theoretical approach is based around the framework of Egan's Skilled Helper model. I combine theory from the Humanistic schools of therapeutic thought (including Person Centred, Narrative, Gestalt, Existential and Transactional Analysis) and my thinking and conceptualisation of clinical work is enriched by theory from other areas too including Attachment Theory, Systemic Family Theory, Internal Family Systems Theory, Psychodynamic Therapy, Mindfulness, Solution Focused Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). I enjoy use creative materials in my own clinical practice (e.g. sand tray) and can explore how supervisees are using these techniques with their own clients as well as using them directly within supervision sessions.
*Hawkins and Shohet (2012) Supervision in the Helping Professions. Open University Press
** Page and Wosket (2014) Supervising the Counsellor and Psychotherapist: A Cyclical Model. Routledge
Supervision should be supervisee-centred and take place within a relationship where the supervisor offers the core conditions of warmth, respect, genuineness and empathic understanding.
Steve Page and Val Wosket, Supervising the Counsellor and Psychotherapist: A Cyclical Model (2015)
My relational style of supervision
I see a transparent and honest supervisory relationship as being a key foundation stone to ensure supervision is genuinely useful. I treat every individual supervisee warmly and with respect as a fellow human being as well as a fellow professional. I take time to listen and understand anxieties, strengths and areas for growth. I show up reliably as myself, meaning I’m honest about how I’m feeling, what I know and what I don’t.
Without these core conditions being present in the relationship, I think it would be impossible for a supervisee to feel safe enough to bring their vulnerabilities trusting that they would be respected and nurtured in the supervisory space. Research shows that the greater the rapport between supervisor and supervisee, the greater the supervisee’s ability to disclose sensitivities to their supervisor.
As well as offering warmth and empathy, I take the responsibility of holding the boundaries of the supervisory relationship seriously. Having experienced both helpful and harmful supervision myself, I’m deeply committed to offering boundaried, independent and ethical supervision that’s free from managerial pressures and unprocessed power dynamics.
I’m an LGBTQI+ ally and supervisees who identify as part of the Rainbow community can expect to feel respected, affirmed and safe in our work together.
Likewise, I enjoy working with people who are neurodivergent and supervisees who think and experience the world differently to the status quo can also expect to feel appreciated and empowered.
The supervisees I work with tend to grow in confidence - in themselves, in our supervisory relationship and in their ability to navigate complex situations within their practice. They feel safer to bring what’s really on their minds.
Past supervisees have described me as:
“A supportive, professional, warm, boundaried, understanding, knowledgable and available supervisor.”
“Thank you for all of your support. I always value your guidance and suggestions and you really help to contain my anxieties about the work.”
Who I work with
I started supervising counsellors and therapists in 2013 and completed a Level 6 Certificate in Therapeutic Counselling Supervision in 2016. Since then, I have worked with a wide range of professionals including:
-
trainee and experienced therapists, both one-to-one and in groups
-
therapists working with children as well as with adults
-
therapists from a variety of theoretical orientations including person-centred, psychodynamic, integrative, gestalt, cognitive behavioural therapists, art therapists, drama therapists and play therapists
-
therapists working in private practice, schools, universities, charities and community organisations
I have a lot of experience delivering counselling within school settings and understand both the opportunities and challenges of working clinically with children and whānau (family) within school systems.
I am an accredited member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and a provisional member of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC). I supervise with reference to the BACP’s Ethical Framework and NZAC's Code of Ethics.
I currently offer clinical supervision to counsellors and therapists practising in Aotearoa New Zealand, the United Kingdom and a number of other countries too. If you are based outside the UK or NZ then please contact me to discuss whether we can work together (with due regard for the relevant law in our respective countries). I supervise therapists working in countries where there is an established and regulated community of counselling/therapy and also professionals working in countries where this isn’t yet the case.
I supervise clinical work that is happening in person, work that is happening online and a blend of the two.
I supervise therapists working with children, teenagers and adults of all ages.
I supervise therapists at different points in their careers from those who are in training to those who have many years’ practice experience.
Please note that because I am a relatively recent member of NZAC, I am not yet eligible to supervise counsellors who are provisional members of NZAC. I am intending to offer supervision to NZAC provisional members when I am eligible to do so.
Meeting online
Having supervision online means that you can work with a supervisor anywhere in the world, not just with those who happen to be based near to you.
Online supervision is particularly helpful if you:
-
Live in a small community and want to protect the confidentiality of your client work by having supervision with someone who doesn’t live nearby.
-
Are looking for particular expertise that isn’t available locally
-
Would like to have supervision at times that isn’t usual working hours for practitioners in the same time zone as you
-
Are working with clients exclusively online – it is recommended that your supervision arrangement mirrors your client work and also happens online only
-
Live remotely or have difficulty attending supervision meetings in person.
Just as working with clients online adds additional elements into the set up of therapy and relational dynamics, the same is true for supervision. I completed additional supervisor training through the Online Therapy Institute to help give me a better grounding in these factors.
I have supervised therapists online whom I have never met in person since 2018, as well as working with practitioners both online and in person in a hybrid arrangement. I am experienced and confident at building and maintaining supervisory relationships online.
Take a look at the frequently asked question page for more info on the practicalities of meeting online and if you have a question that’s not covered then please message me.
I supervise trainee counsellors and therapists who are based in the United Kingdom.
I have many years’ experience supervising trainee counsellors from a range of therapeutic orientations and training organisations. When working with trainees, I will ask you to ensure my 4-way signed agreement is in place with your course tutor and placement manager(s).
I am willing to support trainee therapists by completing course and registration/regulatory body paperwork. For paperwork which takes longer than 15 minutes to complete, I do charge for the time it takes me based on a pro-rata of your usual session fee.
Supervision for counsellors and therapists in training
Next steps
Please either contact me or book online to arrange a free conversation of up to 20 minutes. During this we can talk together about what is prompting you to seek supervision at the moment, whether my style of supervision is likely to be helpful for you and whether we both have availability to be able to meet regularly.
If we agree that supervision sessions together are practically possible and likely to be helpful, then I will email you an online assessment form to complete, along with a copy of my standard supervision agreement for you to read. We will also agree a time for an assessment appointment, which can either be in-person or online via video call.
The assessment appointment lasts for up to 60 minutes and is charged for. It includes discussing one or two aspects of your work in more depth to trial how it feels for us both to work together and see if we are a good fit. I very much believe that assessments are a two-way process so I see the assessment appointment as just as much about you assessing me as me assessing you! From this meeting we can make a more informed judgment about whether we want to go ahead and contract to meet for supervision on a regular basis.
You can check out the Frequently Asked Questions giving information on practicalities and if you have a question that’s not covered, please feel free to message me.
Then when you’re ready you can either send me a message or book an initial free 20-minute conversation directly - whichever works best for you. I will be very pleased to hear from you.