Supervision: Questions and Answers for Counsellors and Therapists (Questions And Answers For Counsellors And Therapists (Whurr))

154 Pages·2005·0.545 MB·English

by  Moira Walker, Michael Jacobs

Supervision
Questions and Answers for
Counsellors and Therapists
By
MOIRA WALKER BA, MSC, FBACP
and
MICHAEL JACOBS MA, FBACP
both of Bournemouth University
Series Editor
MICHAEL JACOBS
W
WHURR PUBLISHERS
LONDON AND PHIL ADELPHIA

Supervision
Questions and Answers for
Counsellors and Therapists

Supervision
Questions and Answers for
Counsellors and Therapists
By
MOIRA WALKER BA, MSC, FBACP
and
MICHAEL JACOBS MA, FBACP
both of Bournemouth University
Series Editor
MICHAEL JACOBS
W
WHURR PUBLISHERS
LONDON AND PHIL ADELPHIA
© 2004 Whurr Publishers Ltd
First published 2004
by Whurr Publishers Ltd
19b Compton Terrace
London N1 2UN England and
325 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia PA 19106 USA
Reprinted 2004
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
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Whurr Publishers Limited.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
ISBN 1 86156 414 7
Typeset by Adrian McLaughlin, [email protected]
Printed and bound in the UK by Athenæum Press Ltd, Gateshead,
Tyne & Wear.
Contents
Contributors ix
Preface xi
Chapter 1 1
The supervisee: initial questions
1.1 What is supervision? Is it for me or my client? 1
1.2 How am I expected to use supervision? 5
1.3 What are the different models of supervision? 7
1.4 How much supervision should I have? 11
1.5 What should I be looking for in a supervisor? 13
1.6 What is a ‘verbatim’ and is it useful? 17
1.7 Is it important for me to have a supervisor who has the same 20
theoretical base as that which informs my training?
1.8 Is it necessary to present all my counselling work in super- 22
vision?
1.9 I have been informed that I am to be supervised by my line 24
manager. Is that not contrary to the guidelines for good
practice?
1.10 Should I tell my clients that I present them in supervision? 25
1.11 Is it useful to tape sessions and play tapes back in super- 26
vision?
1.12 Have you any advice on how I might make notes for the 29
work I take to supervision?
v
vi Supervision: Questions and Answers for Counsellors and Therapists
Chapter 2 31
The supervisee: further issues
2.1 I have just started to work in primary care, and I wonder 31
whether I should change my supervisor, who has always
been in independent practice and is, I think, not familiar
with short-term contracts?
2.2 My newest client has said that she was abused as a child. 33
Should I, in this case, and in others where special know-
ledge is involved, seek additional supervision from someone
with that type of experience and expertise?
2.3 Is it wise to change supervisors every two years, in order to 37
broaden experience?
2.4 I feel uncomfortable sometimes when my supervisor is crit- 38
ical of the client or tells me how I should tackle particular
aspects of the work. Is this usual?
2.5 My supervisor keeps mentioning ‘parallel process’. What is 40
that?
2.6 I have worked for many years as a counsellor and am cur- 48
rently cutting down on the number of people I see – is it
therefore all right for me to cut down on the amount of
supervision I am used to receiving?
2.7 A colleague and I think we might form a group for peer 49
supervision. Is peer supervision adequate? What helps it to
be effective?
2.8 I have been offered the alternative of group supervision, 54
having been used to seeing my supervisor one to one. What
are the advantages and disadvantages of that, and how does
it affect the number of hours I need to be supervised each
month?
2.9 I am not very happy with the supervision I am receiving, but 55
when I try to raise this with my supervisor she tells me it is
because I have issues with her as an authority figure and I
should take it to my own therapy. I think it’s because I don’t
find her very effective. How can I resolve this?
Chapter 3 59
The supervisor: initial questions
3.1 Is it useful to seek training to be a supervisor? Is there 59
really that much that I need to learn?
Contents vii
3.2 I have been asked if I would like to supervise for a local vol- 63
untary counselling centre, and this will be my first
experience as a supervisor. The centre wants me to see
someone whom I know to be really experienced. Wouldn’t
it be better for me to see someone with little experience?
3.3 I believe it is valuable to offer a contract to supervisees. 65
What elements should I ensure are included in it?
3.4 Have you any advice on the best way of keeping track of the 69
different clients my various supervisees present in super-
vision?
3.5 Do I have a role as a teacher when I am a supervisor? Some 74
of the inexperienced counsellors I supervise seem to need
instruction as much as the opportunity to reflect on their
work.
3.6 How might I monitor the effectiveness of my work as a 77
supervisor?
3.7 How far am I responsible for the work of my supervisees? 80
Suppose a complaint is made against one of them by a
client: could I be held responsible too?
3.8 I have just been asked to be an external supervisor for a stu- 83
dent on a training course. What might this involve, and
what do I need to ensure is in place to undertake this task
properly?
3.9 I have to present a report at the end of the year on super- 86
visees from a particular course as part of their assessment.
Surely, the fact they know this will make it much more diffi-
cult for them to be really honest about their work with me,
especially if they say or do something that is bad practice.
3.10 I work full time as a therapist and am building up a super- 91
vision practice. I am very clear about how many clients I
take on, but how might I decide how many supervisees?
3.11 What is the ideal size for group supervision? 92
3.12 How much supervision of my supervision work should I 93
have? And is this really necessary? Who supervises the
supervisors of supervision?
Chapter 4 95
The supervisor: further issues
4.1 I am very concerned about the practice of one of my super- 95
visees. What is the best way of tackling this?