Supervision
 
In the UK it is established ethical working practice for counsellors and psychotherapists to have a regulated amount of supervision. Each supervisor is also in supervision, my supervision work is therefore equally covered. I do not work in a vacuum. 

The term “supervision” is itself something of a misnomer, it does not, in counselling and psychotherapy, fit its function. The relationship, as I see it, is rather one of consultant; one of a more experienced to a less experienced colleague. It is part mentor, part manager, but very much someone who supports and cares for me as I care for my clients and supervisees.

There is something of a difference between supervision given to trainee practitioners who usually find themselves in the three-way position of having responsibility to an agency and a course provider as well as their clients and supervision given to qualified private practitioners.

• Ideally supervisees choose their supervisors just as clients choose their therapists not the other way around. [This, sadly, is often not possible for trainees working within agencies].
• There is just as much need for there to be a depth of compatibility between supervisor and supervisee as there is between client and therapist.
• The ethical relationship between supervisor and supervisee is very similar to that within the therapeutic relationship.
• As either my client or my supervisee you can expect me to discuss your issues with my supervisor but your identity will be restricted to your first name and, if you wish, that too can be changed. Only in extreme circumstances will I breach that confidentiality.
• My supervisor helps me to monitor and improve the quality of the relationship you (whether client or supervisee) and I have together. That means helping me to understand my own part in our relationship rather than solely focussing on the issues you have brought me. 
• Similarly, when I meet with you as my supervisee I will be primarily interested in you as a whole person within your client relationships rather than simply addressing the client material you bring. You are in the room with me, your client can only be brought in through your thoughts, percepts and openness. I see your empathy, thoughts and reflections upon your clients as integral to your personal development and all that influences it.

Supervision helps with:

• Expanding our perspectives so that we can see things in a new light.
• Providing support when we need encouragement to make difficult decisions.
• Suggesting approaches that we had not envisioned.
• Providing a trusted space within which we can explore our fears and doubts.

Status

There is a tendency amongst both clients and new trainees alike to put their therapists and supervisors on a pedestal. I try to oppose this by recognising the truth: within both the supervisory and therapeutic process I am learning as much as my clients and supervisees.
It was Jung who coined the term “wounded healer” to describe the indispensable need for the therapist to know at first hand the meaning of suffering for a healing relationship to be genuine. I hope that, when I get hurt, I have the grace to learn.

Psychotherapist or Counsellor?

Professional sparring surrounds these terms. We sometimes seem more preoccupied with the titles on the bits of paper we acquire than the insights that follow working with life's pains and contradictions or a spiritual practice that focuses on clearing the mind and opening the heart.
What matters is that the supervisee discusses with the supervisor the matching depths of psychological contact or compatibility he or she is sensing when meeting clients.

I have had a session with a supervisee who, in one hour and a half with her client, had clearly got to exactly the appropriate depth for this person to make the decisions she needed.

How can that relationship be labelled to fit professional definitions?