Template:Modes of clinical supervision

Modes of Counselling And Psychotherapy Supervision

There are different modes of providing counselling and psychotherapy supervision.

Some practitioners use combinations of these for their counselling and psychotherapy supervision. Such eclecticism may be more appropriate for the experienced practitioner. Explicit consideration should be given to deciding who is responsible for providing the counselling and psychotherapy supervision, and how the task of supervision will be carried out.

One-to-One supervision with an 'expert' supervisor This is the most widely used mode of counselling and psychotherapy supervision and is particularly appropiate for newly qualified practitioners Generally in this situation the supervisor is more experienced than the supervisee.

One-to-one peer supervision Care needs to be taken to develop an atmosphere conducive to sharing, questioning and challenging each others’ practice in a constructive and supportive way

Group supervision with an identified supervisor(s)

This is an arangement suitable for more experienced practioners. The supervisor may act as the leader, taking responsibility for organising the time equally between the supervisees, and concentrates on the work of each individual in turn. Alternatively the supervisees allocate supervision time between themselves with the supervisor as a technical resource.Sufficient time must be allocated to each practitioner to ensure adequate supervision of their work. It is advisable that all participants have sufficient group work experience to recognise the group process in order to facilitate effective supervision. As well as having, a background in psychological therapies, supervisors should alsohave appropriate group work experience in order to facilitate this kind of group.

Peer group supervision Here practitioners share the responsibility for providing each other’s  supervision.. Typically, they will consider themselves to be of broadly equal status, training and/or experience. This mode is generally considered unsuitable for inexperienced practitioners, due to the possibility of collusion between participants and the particular needs of newly qualified practitioners. Sufficient time must be allocated to each practitioner to ensure adequate supervision of their work. Quality control is an issue in these arrangements and it is good practice to have an independent consultant to visit to observe and monitor the process and quality of the groups work.