Supervision

There are three fundamental functions of Supervision according to Kadushin. I believe they do indeed underpin all the other supervision ‘models’ and needs. Get theses right with each supervisee and you can design your alliance from there. The three are Restorative, Educative, and Supportive. Whilst all three are essential to all supervisory relationships, the amount of each will ebb and flow according to the needs of the supervisee who sits before you.

The restorative nature of supervision is of interest to me. When I take a step back it is clear that practitioners of any kind need to engage with some kind of restorative work. This is because we give a lot, every day, to our clients or service users. These people are often, by the very nature of what we offer,  vulnerable types and thus they need a lot. “You cannot give away what you have not got” is a well known phrase and I know from experience what ‘burn-out’ looks like. If we do not nourish ourselves, through supervision, and though what my colleague calls ‘aggressive-self-care’, then we will be empty.  As a Supervisor, when I have had supervision, I often find myself thinking ‘I didn’t know how much I needed that’ and this is the sign that i didn’t even know that I was ‘running on empty’. Running on empty can become too familiar.

Supervision can be educative even when you  and your supervisee are not in the same therapeutic discipline. Whether you are a psychotherapist or a masseuse, if you are in the world of counselling or are a provider of services to vulnerable children, whether you are yourself a clinical supervisor or have the role of SENCO, we all work with humans. Whatever the interventions you use or the culture you work within, humans are the same the world over. We all have the same needs and we all have similar vulnerabilities. As practitioners we are all aiming to meet those needs, learning how to recognise them. So learning how to best work with these needs and vulnerabliites is well within the remit of a supervisory session.

Support is a strong function of supervision. in my experience, one of the most frequently expressed emotions amongst practitioners in ‘Shame’. If the supervisory environment is not supportive then shame based practitioners will find disclosure impossible. Practitioners are all prone to self-doubt about what decision or action to take regarding safe-guarding issues or the well-being of an especially vulnerable client. We all need to know who to consult, and amongst if the professional bodies who can guide us, there is also your supervisor. This is a relationship built on trust, mutual respect, equality. The relationship needs to be of a supportive and collegiate nature in order that serious issues can be identified, explored and resolved together.

Overall the Supervisory relationship meets a need unlike any i have encountered in my life. It is humorous and self-regulating, it is generous and fulfilling, it is dynamic and at times edgy, it is challenging and sometimes the learning curves are steep for both supervisor and practitioner. It is a place of honesty and of celebration. Supervision is a safe and sometimes rumbustious place to enter, to process all you are carrying, and, to leave refreshed and renewed.

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