By Jessica Smith, LCPC
Co-Author Dr. Kendra O’Hora, Ph.D., LCMFT

READING TIME: 5 MINUTES

Well, yes. But, not in the juicy HBO gossip sense you may be thinking of. And thank goodness – what’s portrayed on TV is most often not ethical! But yes, most therapists (not all) talk about their clients in what’s called clinical supervision.

What IS Clinical Supervision?

Did you know that the Wellness & Co. team meets with each other for an hour every single week? That’s right, every Tuesday we all hop in a Zoom meeting to offer each other professional support. We call this meeting Supervision.

What is Supervision?

Clinical supervision is a formal process of professional support, reflection, and learning that contributes to professional development and improved care for the client or patient. This typically involves a case presentation, in which one of our providers presents details of a client case they are working with and asks the team for informed feedback.

Now, we do typically begin our supervision meetings with some lightness – perhaps a fun, sometimes silly question to explore or a meditation or inner practice. It’s also common for us to briefly discuss general business updates. Then, once we’re oriented to the space, we spend the rest of the time processing a client case. 

Our supervision sessions, in particular, tend to focus mainly on two domains: modalities for treatment/intervention and, what we call, “the self of the provider.”

When Therapists Help Other Therapists

Our team at Wellness & Co. encompasses a broad range of expertise. We have providers that specialize in treatment modalities such as the Enneagram, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Somatic work, EMDR, Solution-Focused Therapy, Emotion Focused Couples Therapist (EFT), and more. We are thus able to offer each other practical tools for use in sessions with our clients. If, at any point, we feel “stuck” or unsure of what direction to lean toward with a client, we use our supervision space to offer each other potential intervention techniques and ideas that could benefit the client. This component typically lends itself to looking like a brainstorming session, in which our team offers the case presenter ideas for practical tools they can take back to their session with their client. 

Not Stuck but Curious or Celebrating! 

Even when a provider feels rock solid with the clinical work they have been doing with a client it’s a good idea to present the case in supervision from time to time. This helps providers to mitigate bias, consider all angles, and stay fresh in their treatment goals and interventions. It also provides an avenue for the team to celebrate, encourage, or highlight something the provider may be doing really well. Noting these victories can help a provider to hone their expertise even further. 

What if I Don’t Want to Be Talked About?

Sometimes it can feel intimidating to a client that they would be talked about in supervision. That’s normal! 

Rest assured that quality supervision also means de-identifying information to the team. Your provider is trained to avoid sharing names or demographic information that is too detailed. In addition, *and this piece is really important*, within a group practice, providers will often notify the team if there are possible conflicts of interest. For example, if a husband and wife are seeing two different providers within our practice and have not signed a release of information, then we ask the other relevant providers to log off the call so that they aren’t privy to information that would impact their own perspective, clinical bias, or treatment. 

On the flip side, if we do have releases of information then clinical supervision can be a fantastic space for providers to sync up and help support a couple or family toward mutual growth!

The Self of the Provider

One of our core company values at Wellness & Co. is intentionality. It is important to all of our providers that we are offering care that is intentionally supportive, and in order to be able to do so, we need to consult with each other to ensure our own biases aren’t affecting the treatment we’re delivering. 

Therapists and coaches are humans too, bringing our own values and core beliefs to the treatment space. It is important to all of our team at Wellness & Co. to ensure these biases do not negatively impact our work with our clients, and that we continuously offer a safe, nun-judgmental space. So, we spend a lot of time [gently and supportively] challenging each other to be mindful of, insightful about, and intentional with our own “stuff.”

What is our “stuff?” Typically, providers can get hung up (aka – miss their own bias) when a case:

·   hits close to home and involves similar life experiences to the provider themselves, 

·   involves a personal, political, spiritual, or social belief that the provider cares deeply about, or

·   touches on a trigger or growth edge that the provider is learning to work with in themselves or with other clients.

Having a team that knows and cares for one another and therefore can note these developments deeply benefits clients. This may look like:

“I’m noticing as you share that your body language is tightened when you speak about the mother’s perspective compared to her daughter’s perspective. When you speak about the daughter you almost seem more calm, open, and curious. If you slow down and pause with this observation, what’s coming up for you? What might be going on that’s impacting how you see each of them in the space?”

Clinical supervision is of the utmost importance in delivering effective, ethical, top-notch mental health services. Candidly, I can name that Wellness & Co. has been the most professionally supportive team I have ever worked with. Not only do we learn more about how we can support our clients directly, but we also learn a ton about how we show up in the therapeutic relationship as providers and how that impacts our work with our clients. Ultimately, in supporting you in your growth journey, we’re growing right alongside you.

If you have questions about how clinical supervision works after reading this blog, feel free to ask your provider or message me!

Interested in working with a provider that has a keen eye for their own “stuff” and a team of caring professionals championing them with fresh ideas? 

Schedule Your Free Consult Today!

Until next time,

Jessica & Dr. K