Professional Support for Counsellors & Coaches
Learning in connection
“Everything can be found in isolation except sanity”
Friedrich Nietzsche
Supervision
Providing the encouragement, guidance and support you need, to best serve your clients.
Being a counsellor is a hugely rewarding job, it is a highly skilled role and a privileged position – often we are hearing stories and experiences disclosed for the first time. This is both humbling and a huge responsibility, and as a qualified counsellor, you know having trusted supervision is vital to your safe and ethical practice.
Quality supervision is the foundation on which a healthy practice can thrive and finding the right supervisor can be a matter of trial and error. The relationship has to be the right fit and of course what works for one will not necessary be a good fit for another.
Research shows supervision is most effective when supervisor and supervisee feel sufficiently comfortable to honestly explore issues, celebrating achievements but also safe enough to admit mistakes and consider areas for personal development.
I have experienced many different types of supervision (both 121 and group) in the different settings in which I’ve worked. I personally found I get the most from supervision when together we create a space where:
- We work collaboratively, acknowledging each others professional strengths, similarities and differences;
- I feel safe enough to admit mistakes and consider the shortfalls in my knowledge and experience without being judged;
- All thoughts and ideas are admissible and a potential source of learning;
- Self-care and self-development is given due consideration for the part it plays in enabling therapists to work in the best interests of their clients.
As an integrative counsellor and trainee psychoanalytical psychotherapist, I offer integrative supervision, often using the Seven Eye Model as a framework, for a multi-dimensional perspective, which holds the client at its’ heart.
Together, we create a psychologically safe environment in which you can explore your client work, without judgement. This a space where it’s OK to admit mistakes. We both take accountability for developing our relationship and we hold the client at the centre of everything we do. This sits alongside your ongoing development and self-care which can so often be sidelined when we work in service of others but I firmly believe “you can’t pour from am empty cup!”.
Does this resonate with you? If you can relate and would like to explore working together, please do get in touch. I offer a free 30 minute ‘chemistry’ call to see if I am the right fit for you as a Supervisor.
Reflective Practice
Putting your development at the heart of your therapeutic practice.
Are you continually searching for the best way to serve your clients? Do you take courses or CPD but wish you had more opportunity to consider how the learning applies to your client work? Do you plan to discuss your development, your learning or your self-care during supervision but run out of time because of pressing client presentations? Would you like to be part of a group of professionally qualified counsellors (or coaches), sharing ideas and learning from each other in a safe space where it’s OK to admit mistakes and to be vulnerable in the best interests of your clients? If the answer to any of this is yes, you may benefit from adding Reflective Practice to your CPD.
What is reflective practice? Reflective practice makes use of facilitated conversations and exercises to help you with specific aspects of your professional development. It can be similar to supervision in that you may chose to reflect on your work with a particular client or presentation but there is also the freedom to define specific development goals and to agree bespoke activities with the facilitator in service of your learning.
How is it different from supervision? RP can offer more flexibility to consider your practice holistically and with more of an intentional focus on your development. It is a space where you can reflect on your learning (irrespective of whether you are a novice or highly experienced) and to take a deep dive into the big questions about you as a therapist – all in service of doing your best work with your clients. Put simply:
Supervision puts the client at the centre of the conversation, RP is focused on YOU and your development as a therapist in service of your clients.
Obviously both can play a valuable role in your therapeutic work. Reflective practice can sit alongside your current supervisory arrangements or be something you undertake as a stand alone activity.
Does this sound like something you would find useful? Please get in touch, I offer a free 30 minute ‘chemistry’ call to see if I might be the right person to support you with your development.
TUTORING & COACHING TRAINEE COUNSELLORS
I teach counselling skills and work with students to support them on their journey to becoming a qualified counsellor. I know from experience what it’s like to embark on this training and I work with individuals at different stages of their learning to support them – right through from finding the right course, to helping them set up in private practice or find paid work.
I am trained in a range of tools and methodologies to enable me to work with groups and individuals to create psychologically safe spaces.
Testimonials
Thank you so much for helping me. I feel like a different person and much more in control of my emotions and no longer lost. It feels really good. Counselling Client
Whenever I attend one of Catherine's workshops, I can feel my blood pressure return to normal! Marketing Manager
Your workshop made such a difference to the way we worked together as a team. I would recommend this to any new project team who need to hit the ground running. HR Business Partner