Supervision is the best form of professional development and growth for practitioners. In developed countries like England and the United States, supervision is recommended for all professionals, regardless of their level of experience. Supervision serves as a mentoring role, providing direction, emotional support, and information for professionals in the field. Many researchers consider supervision the most important component in developing a competent professional, as it helps practitioners develop a professional identity, reflect on their values, understand how their values interfere with the therapeutic process with clients, and refine their skills.
Clinical supervision helps professionals or trainees avoid inevitable emotional burnout in the profession, stemming from the therapeutic processes of their clients. Discussing client sessions with a supervisor and receiving feedback from another perspective provides psychologists with an opportunity to learn and practice new skills, finding better ways to help their clients.
Due to the sensitive content of many clients’ histories or complaints, it is common for psychologists to become overly involved and sometimes overlook the therapeutic boundaries that are extremely important to the process. In these cases, the supervisor quickly identifies this tendency and intervenes before the situation becomes problematic and harmful to the client’s therapeutic process.
Researchers and prominent figures in the field of counselling psychology argue that being a competent professional requires not only continuous professional development but also a willingness to obtain regular supervision and deal with professional and ethical dilemmas all the time. Supervision constitutes a form of continuous learning and professional development, and also helps the professional learn how to eventually become a supervisor. Research has identified a range of benefits of supervision, including improved outcomes of client´s therapeutic processes, better ability to monitor ethical practice, and a considerable increase in the overall skills of practitioners. In short, supervision is not only crucial in the learning process of counselling psychology students and trainees but is also an extremely important ingredient in the practice of experienced and graduated professionals.
Many professionals refuse supervision either because they think they already know everything or because they feel intimidated by the idea of someone judging their competence or the work they do. Competent professionals recognize that no one can truly get rid of some values and principles that constitute who they really are and that the best they can do is to always be aware of how these values and principles can influence the therapeutic process of a particular client. Supervision is important because it allows, not only other experienced professional to hear about your work but also offers a different perspective that you may not have previously considered. During supervision, the supervisor raises issues that you may not have addressed with the client and offers a safe space for the practitioner to take care of themselves. Although supervision is very different from therapy, it can be very useful in helping practitioners acknowleging some personal issues that may have been triggered by things that clients brought to therapy.
“As practitioners, we will never be able to know everything we would like to know, and we will never have all the skills necessary to effectively intervene in the therapeutic process of all types of clients with the most diverse demands. Supervision is essential for any professional in the field of counselling psychology, regardless of their level of experience” (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 2007).
Corey, G., Corey, M.S., & Callanan, P. (2007). Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions. (7th Ed.). Belmont: Thompson Brooks/Cole.