Finding a supervisor as a trainee counselling psychologist
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I’m Lisa, a counselling psychologist based in Edinburgh and online. I offer concessionary rates for trainee counselling psychologists for therapy and clinical supervision. If you’re looking for a new supervisor, I offer a free 30-minute call to discuss. Contact me to find out more.
Supervision is seen as essential for safe practice and protection of clients. For HCPC registered practitioner psychologists, it’s part of the standards of proficiency to participate in supervision and be able to reflect and review on their practice (HCPC, 2023). Good clinical supervision is more than case management. It’s a professional relationship supporting reflective practice, develops competencies and professional development.
What you’re looking for from supervision can change over time. As a trainee counselling psychologist, you may focus more on client work, therapy models and interventions and in future may cover other topics such as starting in private practice or supervising others when qualified. As a reflective-practitioner, supervision can provide a reflective space where you can share your experiences training, managing the different expectations from the course, your placement and other demands. It can also help to reflect on your internal experiences providing therapy – thoughts and feelings that arise in the moment, your responses to these, any blind spots or biases that your supervisor can bring for discussion and dealing with similar future situations.
Finding a supervisor
Similar to finding a therapist, if you are in a position to pick a supervisor, then I would suggest meeting with a few to see if they will meet your needs, work in a way that feels important to you and someone you feel you can build a working relationship with. Although supervision isn’t personal therapy, it’s important to work collaboratively, feel comfortable and able to disclose challenges in your sessions, such as understanding interventions, models or if there is something that may come up in your clinical practice that relates to your personal life.
Your course may have a list of supervisors, and you can also check online with directories and practitioners’ own websites if they offer supervision. You may also be signposted or hear about potential supervisors through peers on the course. The BPS also have a list of supervisors (RAPPS) that you can check.
Points to discuss in the initial call
Most supervisors offer a free initial call to find out more about each other. Some points that could help you guide your decision:
Their experience of providing therapy, their approach and types of therapy they offer, any specialist areas such as working with trauma or with the LGBTQ+ community (this may also be available on their website or profile).
Their approach to supervision – model of supervision used, how they structure sessions.
Anti-oppressive practice and cultural humility – open to addressing power, diversity and inclusive practices.
Practical factors: does their availability for supervision match the frequency for what you need, cost per session and if they offer extended times. I liked having 1.5hr sessions for supervision, but this may not be offered.
There should be a supervision contract or agreement outlining terms of working together. This clarifies things like responsibilities, confidentiality and data management, and is usually agreed before starting work together. You may be in a placement or situation where you have no choice over who your supervisor is. Furthermore, you may have a placement co-ordinator or line manager, so it would help for you to know who is responsible for what. For example, managing risk and responsibility could come under the organisation’s processes and placement co-ordinator but you would still discuss with your clinical supervisor to address what happened in the therapy.
How much supervision do I need?
There is no set standard on how much supervision you need. To determine the frequency of supervision, it can help to think about how much client contact you have, the nature of the work or population you’re working with, and potential for burnout, vicarious trauma or compassion fatigue (BPS, 2024).
During training, there is usually a requirement for a minimum number of clinical supervision hours dependent on therapy hours you’ve carried out. This is usually at a ratio e.g. one hour of supervision required for every eight therapy hours (1:8) and this may vary across different courses. It’s important to keep monitoring with your supervisor that you are meeting these requirements. Furthermore, the more therapy hours, the more supervision you may need as you continue to approach potentially new situations, have high levels of contact with people, and manage risk. It’s helpful to keep this in mind, as engaging in supervision and how much you need is not only determined by the course minimum requirements.
Can I work with more than one supervisor?
You may be working with multiple supervisors, especially if you’re in more than one placement and depending on the requirements of the organisations. If you have more than one supervisor for one placement, it is important to clarify early the roles and responsibilities from each supervisor and they’re aware of any documentation required for your training and who will complete this.
Here is how I’ve made the most out of supervision as a supervisee:
An agenda prepared for main points to discuss.
Prepared to take supervision notes and noting action points.
Prioritising cases with risk or ethical dilemmas.
Asking for explicit developmental feedback, such as progress with a particular intervention or presenting problem.
Discussing what is going well (with cases, placement and training).
Identifying specific agreed learning goals and monitoring progress, such as formulation.
My supervisor listening to partial recordings of sessions (with client consent).
Support with assignments, such as case studies and personal development essays.
Following up on specific or ongoing topics.
Using it as a reflective space – I really benefit from being able to think of my responses in sessions, address any blind spots or biases and discussing these. Particularly when qualified, it doesn’t feel like there’s as much opportunity for this as when in-training.
If it doesn’t feel it’s working out
If you feel comfortable to, speak with your supervisor about any concerns you have about your supervision. There will hopefully be a collaborative discussion and movement forward in the supervision relationship to continue working. Alternatively, you may decide to move on to a different supervisor if you feel the problems aren’t resolved, or that the relationship isn’t quite there. Some indicators could be things like refusal to discuss important situations, such as risk management, is dismissive, or doesn’t provide space for reflective practice. If there are persistent and serious concerns about supervision that you think is affecting the safety of clients, then this can be raised with the HCPC and the placement organisation’s processes to protect and ensure the safety of clients, as well as your wellbeing.
Ending supervision
Supervision can end for different reasons. As a trainee it’s usually due to ending a placement, especially if the supervisor was linked to the placement rather than external. Other reasons to end could include working with themes or topics outside of the competencies of the supervisor or shifting to different models of therapy that an alternative supervisor may be better. It’s important to have a discussion with the supervisor about bringing things to a close if ending therapy is initiated by you. They should also have a discussion with you if ending is initiated from the supervisor, such as if they’re moving away or retiring, so that the supervision relationship can come to an appropriate close and any ongoing situations are managed.
Summary
Supervision can help to ensure good clinical practice and safe therapy for clients and psychologists, both trainee and qualified.
Although it’s important to think of course requirements, think of your own preferences and needs for what you would like in supervision.
If you’re able to choose your own supervisor, try and meet with a few first and consider the options.
If you’d like to find out more about supervision with me, then contact me and we can arrange a free 30-minute call.
Useful reading:
A good place to start is the BPS (2024) Supervision guidance for psychologists https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/report-guideline/bpsrep.2024.rep178
HCPC Meeting supervision standards: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/meeting-our-standards/supervision-leadership-and-culture/supervision/
HCPC (2023) Standards of proficiency for practitioner psychologists: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-proficiency/practitioner-psychologists/