CLINICAL SUPERVISION
“Successful investing is anticipating the anticipations of others.”
I want to applaud you for getting to this point in your clinical career; it took hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Clinical supervision is an important part of your professional life and should not be taken lightly. Don't just look at clinical supervision as a final task to becoming fully licensed, but as a potential career-long connection.
Consider this when choosing a Clinical Supervisor…
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Experience
Consider the skills you are hoping to learn, refine, or master, how much experience you need your supervisor to have, and what types of certifications or specialization are you expecting your potential supervisor to have.
As a Board-Approved Supervisor in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, I have over 10 years of clinical supervision and have helped over 40 professional become fully licensed clinicians. I am EMDR Certified, and have advanced training in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy, IFS, Brainspotting, Perinatal Mental Health, and Somatic Experience. My clinical work centers around trauma and healing methods outside of the traditional medical model.
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Personality & Temperament
Think about the characteristics and qualities that are needed to foster your growth as a professional. Is there a personality type that you know does not mesh well with your own? Do you need someone easygoing, or someone who is more 'Type A'? Lastly consider your potential supervisor's "buttons" - how easy are they pushed and what are the consequences of pushing them.
Borrowing the language of IFS, I do my best to lead with the following: calm, creativity, connectedness, curiosity, courage, confidence, compassion, and clarity. As a recovering Type A, I often borrow elements but employ lightness and flexibility to create more flow for real life learning.
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Supervision Style
This is the theory behind and the delivery of how your potential supervisor will interact with you; how will you spend your supervision time. Do you want someone who is focused on skill-building or how you are developing as a therapist? Or someone who is focused on training you in a specific type of therapeutic model?
Using a more integrative model, i.e., the discrimination model, allows me as a supervisor to take on the role of a teacher, counselor, and/or consultant when needed. I work collaboratively to nurture growth, and encourage out-the-box thinking when working with clients. I see you as a potential colleagues, so it's important, to me, to provide both formal and informal feedback.
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