As therapists, it is vital that we have a good support system in place for our professional and confidential work. Having a safe space to process is important in private practice.
Personal therapy is one way in which we can get this support. Supervision is another, and it will be the focus of these posts.
In this series I am discussing 15+ things we should expect from our supervisory relationship in order to be accountable and working to a professional standard, for the sake of our practice, our profession, and most importantly, for the sake of our clients.
There is something that happens in the therapy room that is replayed in the supervision room.
It’s called parallel process.
Of course, it doesn’t happen in the exact same way, but the general idea is the same.
Therapists are human too, and as such, we sometimes get overwhelmed by others’ stories.
If we get overwhelmed, surely we need to get support to work through the stuff that is causing us distress.
This is why the supervision space is so important!
We need to feel safe in order to talk about very deep stuff that might have been brought up by one or two of our clients.
It is important to do this, so we can continue to work with our clients and provide them with the support they need, without colluding or feeling stuck or unable to help them.
Processing emotions as they arise is key to keeping on top of the situations in the sessions, and it helps regroup and regain the strength and perspective to work with a particualar client or clients.
I find that working through issues in supervision renews my strength and gives me a new perspective of why I might have felt a certain way after a particular client session.
Figuring out what’s my stuff is also helpful, and I can then work through that and separate it from my client and the work we are doing in their sessions.
Do you feel safe to talk about these things in your supervisory relationship?
The more we talk about what supervision should be about, what it should cover, and how it should support therapists in their private practice, the better equipped we all will be, and we will provide the a better service to our clients
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