Counsellor Supervision
What does supervision mean in the context of counselling or psychotherapy? In the
interests of both clients and practitioners, most professional bodies for counselling
and psychotherapy require members to incorporate supervision into their clinical
practice.
What is Counselling Supervision?
Working under supervision 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.
CPT offers group as well as individual supervision.
Who Needs Supervision?
In the view of this site,
all counsellors and psychotherapists, regardless of experience,
need 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
an ethical imperative. A client who encounters a therapist working without supervision
should probably consider carefully whether they wish to work with that therapist.
Why is Counselling Supervision Needed?
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.
These opportunities to reflect also help the counsellor to improve the value they
are providing to their clients.
What Does Supervision Mean for Confidentiality?
Overall client confidentiality is safeguarded because:
- individually identifying information (such as full name) is not revealed, and are
not traceable back to the specific individual client, and they do not normally pass
beyond the supervision relationship.
- information shared in supervision is itself protected under a contract of confidentiality
and normally may not be shared outside the supervision relationship.