Supervision

I am a BACP Senior Accredited Supervisor

I offer: Art Psychotherapy supervision, Counselling / Psychotherapy supervision, eco-supervision, and consultative support - for individuals / groups of qualified practitioners and students, including:

counsellors / psychotherapists, arts therapists, play therapists, CEOs, managers, clinical leads, health / social care professionals, teachers, other professionals.

I have many years experience (25+ years) of providing clinical supervision for practitioners and professionals across a wide range of organisational and private practice settings. I have training in the provision of counselling and art therapy supervision. This includes using sand tray and other creative and play approaches in supervision.

I have particular specialist expertise in supervising practitioners working with:

children and young people, including in schools;
people of all ages affected by trauma, cancer, abuse...;
adults and young people in forensic settings.

My teaching includes curriculum design and work as a core tutor on a post-qualifying Certificate in Clinical Supervision (CPCAB Level 6 ) and I have also designed and led a one year Supervision Praxis training internationally. I have researched the supervision of school counselling.

My supervision practice is normally fully booked, but you are still welcome to make enquiries about supervision or consultative support.

Supervision approach

My supervision approach is informed by diverse theories, including:

Hawkins & Shohet's (2012) Seven Mode model;
Proctor's (Proctor, 1986; Inskipp & Proctor, 2001) three function model: focusing on the formative, normative, restorative functions;
Page and Wosket's (2001) Cyclical model;
Armstrong & Freeston's (2006) Newcastle 'Cake Stand' model.

Hawkins and Shohet (2012) proposed a model of supervision that features seven Modes. This is a systemic model of supervision that “views the work of supervision as ‘nested’ in increasing wider systemic levels” (Hawkins & Shohet, 2012: 105). The seven Modes are:

Supervisee-Client matrix:

1. Client - how & what they present.

2. Exploration of therapist skills & strategies; how, when, why.

3. Exploration of therapy relationship.

Supervisor-Supervisee matrix:

4. Supervisee: how affected by work; their development & support.

5. Supervisory relationship: Quality of working alliance; Parallel process: here-&-now.as parallel of there-&-then.

6. Supervisor’s process / countertransference.

7. Wider / organisational requirements; ethics; systemic influences.

My supervision practice encompasses, and holds in reverence, "the more-than-human world" (Abram, 1996) - the interconnected commonwealth of earthly life. This is consistent with Hawkins and Shohet's assertion that:

"We strongly agree that supervision should not be reduced to the human and material realms, but should also be open to the ‘more than human world’ (Abrams 1996) (sic) and should ‘create the space for grace’ (Hawkins and Smith 2006)." (Hawkins & Shohet, 2012: 110).

Writing about their seven Mode model, Hawkins and Shohet add:

"... we philosophically oppose the idea that the transpersonal should be a separate transcendent realm, but rather that the spiritual and transpersonal have an important immanent place in all of the seven modes. In Mode 1 we should attend to the personal and transpersonal aspects of the client presented, and in Mode 4 the transpersonal aspects of the supervisee. In Modes 3 and 5 we should consider the transpersonal aspects of the relationships and what is emerging in the space between the parties that transcends both. In Mode 6 as supervisor we should be open to what is emerging not only from within our psychological being but from other levels of being, and in Mode 7 the wider context includes realms beyond human and material.” (Hawkins & Shohet, 2012: 110).

Supervision - a coherent approach

Practice in, and supervision of, art therapy / art psychotherapy and counselling / psychotherapy requires "a coherent approach" (HCPC, 2023; , BACP, 2022, 2024). My 'coherent approach' is a coherent whole which has a governance CORE of good governance, ethics, laws, and related standards and competences. This core supports and nourishes an integrative framework guiding the diverse ELEMENTS of evidence-based theories and associated practices.

My coherent approach in supervision is a relationship based integrated approach - this is guided by the 'Seven-Eyed model' (Hawkins / Shohet / McMahon) and integrates the three formative, normative & restorative functions (Proctor) of supervision.

At the core of my supervision model is the collaborative creation of the supervisory alliance which aims to balance support and challenge, encompassing Proctor's three interactive functions of supervision. My approach in supervision is guided by Hawkins & McMahon / Hawkins & Shohet’s “Seven-Eyed model” therefore we focus on seven key modes:
1. Clients: what & how they present;
2. Intervention: exploration & evaluation of therapist’s strategies, skills & rationale;
3. Exploration of therapy relationship;
4. Supervisee: impact of the work & their development & support;
5. Supervisory relationship: parallel process + quality of working alliance;
6. Supervisor’s process / countertransference & supervisor-client fantasy relationship;
7. Wider contexts: organisational, professional, ethical & systemic influences; plus the & “more-than-human world”, transpersonal and eco aspects of the other 7 modes.

My supervision approach is also informed by Page & Wosket’s Cyclical model. My model also offers the use of creative methods in supervision (Lahad; Schuck & Wood; Chesner & Zografou) as relevant, such as reflective art, response art, sand tray, found objects etc.

My supervision model is consistent with, and informed by, my integrative pluralistic and trauma informed psychotherapy and art psychotherapy orientation. My integrative framework is 'trauma-informed pluralistic art psychotherapy & psychotherapy' (Sibbett, 2003, 2014, 2016, 2019) and trauma-informed pluralistic counselling / psychotherapy (Cooper & McLeod, 2011, 2015; McLeod, 2015, 2018; McLeod & Sundet, 2016; Cooper & Dryden, 2016) which I synthesised with the trauma informed care principles (SAMHSA, 2014; Sweeney et al, 2016). This is based on a relational integrative model of health, grounded in eco-biopsychosocial and systemic models, earth-caring values, and common factors research. It is a humanistic approach, informed by other evidence-based theories such as psychodynamic and attachment, developmental, systems, ecopsychology etc. It also encompasses eco practice: promoting eco-creativity and a reciprocal caring relationship with and for the rest of Nature.

I mainly use a metaphor or symbol of a tree to represent coherent approach featuring a coherent whole with its governance CORE supporting and nourishing an integrative framework guiding the diverse ELEMENTS of evidence-based theories and associated practices.

See Pluralistic Art Psychotherapy & Psychotherapy for more details.

Coherent approach

Tree metaphor:
a coherent whole
with a GOVERNANCE CORE
supporting an
INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK guiding
diverse ELEMENTS

Eco Supervision

I also offer eco-supervision. In eco-supervision, the natural environment is the wider reflexive and containing space and Nature can be a co-supervisor. Sensing out the “affordances” offered by the environment (Gibson, 1966, 1979), the supervisee and supervisor explore the reflexive opportunities encountered in the natural setting. This "implies the complementarity of "the person and the environment." (Gibson, 1979: 127). An aim is to promote caring reciprocal relationship with the rest of nature and "the more-than-human world" (Abram, 1996). Writing about the global challenges that we face and supervision in the helping professions, Hawkins and Shohet (2012: 10) advocate:

"What is needed is a major transformation in human consciousness, ways of thinking, behaving and relating, both to each other and 'the more than human world' (Abrams, 1996)." (stet)

There are opportunities for "environ-mentalization" (Sibbett, 2000, 2001, 2017); attuning with the relational cues and developing a reciprocal caring relationship with Nature. My work is also informed by the concept of "eARTherapy" (Sibbett, 1996) - an approach promoting eco-creativity.

Light (c) CS

County Antrim beach. Photograph (c) CS

Light (c) CS

References

Abram, D. (1996) The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World. New York: Random House.Abram, D. (2011) Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology. New York: Vintage. Denise, S. (2009) Training for supervising transpersonal therapists and others. In: P. Henderson (ed.) Supervisor Training: Issues and Approaches. London: Karnac.Gibson, J.J. (1966) The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems. London: Allen and Unwin.Gibson, J.J. (1979) The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), Boston.Hawkins, P. and Shohet, R. (2012) Supervision in the helping professions. (4th ed). Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.Hawkins, P. and Smith, N. (2006) Coaching, Mentoring and Organizational Consultancy: Supervision and Development. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Wisdom

Determination, skill