Clinical supervision
Encyclopedia
Supervision is used in counselling, psychotherapy, and other mental health
disciplines as well as many other professions engaged in working with people. It consists of the practitioner meeting regularly with another professional, not necessarily more senior, but normally with training in the skills of supervision, to discuss casework and other professional issues in a structured way. This is often known as clinical or counselling supervision or consultation. The purpose is to assist the practitioner to learn from his or her experience and progress in expertise, as well as to ensure good service to the client or patient.
Clinical supervision is used in many disciplines in the British National Health Service
. Registered allied health professionals such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians, speech and language therapists and art
, music
and drama therapists
are now expected to have regular clinical supervision. C. Waskett (2006) has written on the application of solution focused
supervision skills to either counselling or clinical supervision work.
Some practitioners (e.g. art, music and drama therapists, chaplains, psychologists, and mental health occupational therapists) have used this practice for many years. In other disciplines the practice may be a new concept. For NHS nurses, the use of clinical supervision is expected as part of good practice. In a randomly controlled trial in Australia, White and Winstanley looked at the relationships between supervision, quality of nursing care and patient outcomes, and found that supervision had sustainable beneficial effects for supervisors and supervisees. Waskett believes that maintaining the practice of clinical supervision always requires managerial and systemic backing, and has examined the practicalities of introducing and embedding clinical supervision into large organisations such as NHS Trusts (2009, 2010).
Practising members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy are bound to have supervision for at least 1.5 hours a month. Students and trainees must have it at a rate of one hour for every eight hours of client contact.
The concept is also well used in psychology, social work, the probation service and other workplaces.
Peter Hawkins and Robin Shohet (1989, 2000 and 2006), developed an integrative process model which is used internationally in a variety of helping professions. Their "Seven Eyed model of Supervision" is taught on the courses of the Centre for Supervision and Team Development http://cstd.co.uk as well as many other supervision training courses.
S. Page and V. Wosket describe a cyclical structure.
F. Inskipp and B. Proctor (1993, 1995) developed an approach based on the normative, formative and restorative elements of the relationship between supervisor and supervisee. The Brief Therapy practice teaches a solution focused approach based on the work of Steve de Shazer
and Insoo Kim Berg which uses the concepts of respectful curiosity, the preferred future, recognition of strengths and resources, and the use of scaling to assist the practitioner to progress (described in http://northwestsolutions.co.uk/sf-supervision-res.html). Waskett has described teaching solution focused supervision skills to a variety of professionals
Counselling or clinical supervisors will be experienced in their discipline and normally then have further training in any of the above-mentioned approaches, or others.
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
disciplines as well as many other professions engaged in working with people. It consists of the practitioner meeting regularly with another professional, not necessarily more senior, but normally with training in the skills of supervision, to discuss casework and other professional issues in a structured way. This is often known as clinical or counselling supervision or consultation. The purpose is to assist the practitioner to learn from his or her experience and progress in expertise, as well as to ensure good service to the client or patient.
Clinical supervision is used in many disciplines in the British National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
. Registered allied health professionals such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians, speech and language therapists and art
Art therapy
Because of its dual origins in art and psychotherapy, art therapy definitions vary. They commonly either lean more toward the ART art-making process as therapeutic in and of itself, "art as therapy," or focus on the psychotherapeutic transference process between the therapist and the client who...
, music
Music therapy
Music therapy is an allied health profession and one of the expressive therapies, consisting of an interpersonal process in which a trained music therapist uses music and all of its facets—physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual—to help clients to improve or maintain their...
and drama therapists
Drama therapy
Drama Therapy is the use of theatre techniques to facilitate personal growth and promote mental health. Dramatherapy is used in a wide variety of settings, including hospitals, schools, mental health centers, prisons, and businesses...
are now expected to have regular clinical supervision. C. Waskett (2006) has written on the application of solution focused
Solution focused brief therapy
Solution focused brief therapy , often referred to as simply 'solution focused therapy' or 'brief therapy', is a type of talking therapy that is based upon social constructionist philosophy. It focuses on what clients want to achieve through therapy rather than on the problem that made them seek help...
supervision skills to either counselling or clinical supervision work.
Some practitioners (e.g. art, music and drama therapists, chaplains, psychologists, and mental health occupational therapists) have used this practice for many years. In other disciplines the practice may be a new concept. For NHS nurses, the use of clinical supervision is expected as part of good practice. In a randomly controlled trial in Australia, White and Winstanley looked at the relationships between supervision, quality of nursing care and patient outcomes, and found that supervision had sustainable beneficial effects for supervisors and supervisees. Waskett believes that maintaining the practice of clinical supervision always requires managerial and systemic backing, and has examined the practicalities of introducing and embedding clinical supervision into large organisations such as NHS Trusts (2009, 2010).
Practising members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy are bound to have supervision for at least 1.5 hours a month. Students and trainees must have it at a rate of one hour for every eight hours of client contact.
The concept is also well used in psychology, social work, the probation service and other workplaces.
Models or approaches to supervision
There are many different ways of developing supervision skills which can be helpful to the clinician or practitioner in their work. Specific models or approaches to both counselling supervision and clinical supervision come from different historical strands of thinking and beliefs about relationships between people. A few example are given belowPeter Hawkins and Robin Shohet (1989, 2000 and 2006), developed an integrative process model which is used internationally in a variety of helping professions. Their "Seven Eyed model of Supervision" is taught on the courses of the Centre for Supervision and Team Development http://cstd.co.uk as well as many other supervision training courses.
S. Page and V. Wosket describe a cyclical structure.
F. Inskipp and B. Proctor (1993, 1995) developed an approach based on the normative, formative and restorative elements of the relationship between supervisor and supervisee. The Brief Therapy practice teaches a solution focused approach based on the work of Steve de Shazer
Steve de Shazer
Steve de Shazer was a psychotherapist, author, and developer and pioneer of solution focused brief therapy...
and Insoo Kim Berg which uses the concepts of respectful curiosity, the preferred future, recognition of strengths and resources, and the use of scaling to assist the practitioner to progress (described in http://northwestsolutions.co.uk/sf-supervision-res.html). Waskett has described teaching solution focused supervision skills to a variety of professionals
Counselling or clinical supervisors will be experienced in their discipline and normally then have further training in any of the above-mentioned approaches, or others.
See also
- DeinstitutionalisationDeinstitutionalisationDeinstitutionalization or deinstitutionalization is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health service for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. Deinstitutionalization can have multiple definitions; the first...
- The works of Lawrence ShulmanLawrence ShulmanLawrence Shulman is the former Dean of the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.His scholarship covers these subfields of social work: group work, supervision, child welfare, and teaching...
- Behavioral psychotherapyBehavioral psychotherapyBehavioral psychotherapy is one of two streams of thought that have come together to produce cognitive behavioral therapy....
External links
- Clinical Supervision for Nurses and Allied Health Professionals: the 4S Model
- Models of Clinical Supervision
- Implementing clinical supervision in healthcare http://www.supervisionandcoaching.com