Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Who is Clinical Supervision For?

The other day, I gave a full day lecture on using clinical supervision in counselling and psychotherapy and I think it went well, overall.

It was just that, right at the end of the day, a student, whom I hadn't met for about 5 years when he attended an "Introductory Counselling Workshop" told me that he had been receiving clinical supervision for the past 4 years and that -contrary to the point I had been pressing home since the start of my lecture - he had been given to understand that it had nothing to do with the well-being of the client, but that it was purely about the development of the supervisee.

I have to say that, even after more than 20 years as a lecturer in the field (and occasionally in the classroom) I'm still pleased that I can have an open mind to an alternative viewpoint. In this case, though, I was a little "thrown" by the point being made, especially as it was done with the type of certainty only found in the most inexperienced professionals.

I was even more disconcerted by the fact that I had spent at least 2 hours offering up definitions and models of clinical supervision that hopefully left no-one in any doubt that the process was aimed at ensuring the best possible clinical practice was present when the practitioner met the client.

The problem with jargon is that it can be used to mean whatever you want it to mean. In the fields of counselling and mental health work phrases like "supervision", "mentoring", "personal development" and "professional development" get thrown around and mixed up faster and more vigorously than the plastic numbered balls in a Lotto machine.

The way I was taught to understand the meaning of the term "clinical supervision" is quite literal:

Clinical - "Of or relating to the bedside of a patient, the course of his disease, or the observation and treatment of patients directly: a clinical lecture ; clinical medicine" and Supervision - 1. "To direct or oversee the performance or operation of", 2. "To watch over, so as to maintain order, etc."(Both definitions from Dictionary.com)

So, my understanding of clinical supervision is that it directly relates to the treatment of patients (clients) and is used to oversee the work of the trainee or inexperienced (or sometimes highly experienced) practitioner - whether they may be a counsellor, psychotherapist, nurse, doctor or other health worker - while they are actively engaged in client work.

it's not always about maintaining order, and it is sometimes about the practitioner directly - but at the end of clinical supervision - at least when I do it - is always a client, and their best interests.

Browse the static pages above to find out more about what clinical supervision is and how it works.

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