I’ve been meeting with my supervisor for about six months. I find it helpful but wonder if I could be getting more out of it. My supervisor is very experienced and I’m not sure I’m using her expertise to my best advantage.
You are wise to look for ways to maximize the benefit of your supervision. It is generally the most powerful tool for examining and improving your work as a therapist. I’ll address your question in two parts, in terms of the content and the process of supervision.
There are three content areas to cover in supervision. In order of importance or urgency, they are 1) crisis or emergency situations, 2) new clients, and 3) regular review of ongoing therapy with all of your clients.
When one of your clients is in crisis or there is an emergency such as an abuse report or need for hospitalization, you should contact your supervisor between scheduled sessions to discuss crises and emergencies when they arise, then give an update and develop your plan for follow-up in the next supervision hour.
When you begin with a new client, spend time in supervision talking about the client’s clinical presentation and issues of concern or difficulty. You should develop a diagnosis, case formulation, and treatment plan within the first four to six sessions so that your work is focused and effective. Your supervisor’s input is vital in answering your questions, helping you understand the client from a conceptual framework, and suggesting appropriate interventions.
Most of your supervision time can be spent reviewing your ongoing work with clients whose treatment is established and progressing toward the clients’ goals. Talk with your supervisor about the best way to review your ongoing work, since there is a choice to be made between breadth, or giving brief updates about all clients each week, and depth, or spending more time each week on a few clients. Make sure to present each client on a regular basis, including those who you enjoy and are making progress. It is easy to focus supervision time on your challenging clients but there is much to learn in sharing your successes and going into more depth in understanding the clients with whom you feel an easier bond.
Attending to the process of supervision will allow you to get the most benefit. One aspect of process is the quality of your organization and preparation. As you go through the week, reflect on your client sessions and make note of issues that are a priority for your next supervision hour. Examples are differential diagnosis questions, changes in the clients’ symptoms, progress or lack of progress in therapy, questions about treatment approach and interventions, conflict or ruptures in the therapeutic alliance, and strong countertransference. Your supervisor will be able to give you more guidance when you have prepared in advance and lead with the questions that are most pressing.
A second aspect of process in supervision is your degree of openness in the supervisory relationship. Supervision includes mentoring and support as well as evaluation and constructive guidance. Your awareness of the evaluative component of supervision may make you reluctant to bring in difficulties or mistakes, but the greatest learning occurs when you bring in situations that trigger uncertainty, distress, self-doubt and other strong feelings in you.
It is often useful to talk with your supervisor directly about your fears of looking bad, about your own self-criticism, and about what you feel you need from your supervisor. These conversations are good practice for talking directly with clients about emotionally challenging issues, which is part of every therapist’s repertoire. You are also likely to feel more supported by your supervisor when you take the risk to express your vulnerability and your needs.
I hope you follow some of these suggestions and increase the benefit you get from your supervision. Please email me with comments, questions or suggestions for future blog topics.