Methods in Supervision
Silvia Purdie
Supervision is a professional development conversation for the benefit of the supervisee, especially in their areas of work.
It is a contracted service, typically paid for by the supervisee’s employing body.
It is a partnership in which the supervisee is mostly responsible for the content and the supervisor is mostly responsible for the process.
It involves ongoing contracting and awareness of the supervision process and content.
My supervision practice includes a range of methods. These can be used at different times during supervision, with the agreement of the supervisee, where they may bring particular insight.
Contracting
Supervision is different from all other kinds of conversation in that it is clearly contracted, both at the beginning and throughout the relationship. Things we normally take for granted get brought out for discussion.
Set-up Contracting includes discussing expectations of yourself as supervisee, myself as supervisor, and your employing body.
Supervisee’s expectations might include any particular styles you find helpful or unhelpful.
Supervisor’s expectations are:
- that you will come to supervision with material to discuss, and
- that you engage in the supervision process honestly and fully.
Your employing body will also have expectations of the supervision, and may include some form of reporting, accountability or training.
Clarifying issues around confidentiality hinges particularly on the question of what action I as supervisor might take if I have serious concerns for your wellbeing, or in relation to a situation we have discussed where there are real fears for the safety of another person, especially a child.
Practical contracting includes:
- venue for supervision: normally either in my home consulting room or via Zoom
- cost: to be negotiated
- frequency of normal pattern for supervision, plus possibility of additional session
- reminders: I text the day before.
- cancellation policy: no charge for a cancellation with prior notice, but full charge for a no-show.
Ongoing contracting will include occasionally checking in and asking the question of whether supervision with me is helpful for you, and how it could be improved. Contracting also involves paying particular attention to any ‘red flags’ for either of us, such as:
- differing expectations
- confidentiality questions or other ethical ‘flags’
- dis-ease or feeling unsafe
- going ‘around’ an issue again – are we stuck?
- dodging or avoiding something
Active Listening
This is the mainstay of supervision, where the supervisor actively listens while the supervisee talks. You get to talk about anything you like.
Focus Questions
My purpose in asking you questions is not primarily for my own information, though I might need some basic information to grasp your situation. My questions will focus your attention on your responses to situations. You may need to explain a little about what other people are doing or saying, but I am interested in you, how you feel, how you understand the issues, how you react and how you would like to be in that situation.
Problem Solving
Supervision is a good place to bring dilemmas. We talk them through, perhaps map them visually and identify underlying issues. Moving into problem solving mode involves both creative thinking and critical decision-making. It can be helpful to brainstorm options and think ‘outside the box’ before analysis of ‘pros and cons’, consequences and costs, to enable you move forward confidently with your chosen course of action.
Assessment
At various times, where indicated, I might offer you an assessment. I have a range of assessment tools covering issues such as:
- fatigue and burn-out
- depression and anxiety
- personality type
- leadership and conflict styles
Some involve written questionnaires and others we would do together.
These provide an objective measure of subjective experience, and open up a body of theory which can enrich ministry/professional practice.
Your wellbeing is a core focus of supervision. Where you are feeling overwhelmed, attacked, drained, bullied, overworked, ill or exhausted, I will expect you to take responsibility for addressing your physical, emotional, mental, relational and spiritual needs. I will help you identify what you need and how to attend to this.
I am also concerned for the wellbeing of your partner and family.
System Thinking
I bring to my supervision practice the assumption that as well as being unique individuals we are also part of complex systems, and that growing insight into the wider forces at play around us helps us choose our role and claim our voice. This could lead us into reflecting on:
- family systems and organisation system theory, including dynamics such as homeostasis (why people don’t like change) and triangulation (why people bitch about each other)
- relational dynamics, and how to stay ‘adult’ when other people get into their ‘child’
- gender issues, and how the ‘patriarchy’ functions
- cultural dynamics, including inter-generational culture.
In the Here and Now
I am less interested in the abstract and more interested in the present moment. As you describe situations you face I will be attending to how you are right now. I may call attention to aspects of your posture, tone, and ask you how you are feeling. I am interested in the dynamic between you and I in the session, and what we can each learn from increasing our awareness of this. This is the best way to address what the psychologists call ‘transference’ and ‘countertransference’, the unconscious patterns we slip into and assumptions we make about other people.
If you are struggling with a difficult relationship we could practice ‘courageous conversations’ in role play in order to learn new skills.
‘God-talk’
As a Christian I am open to talking about spirituality. I won’t ‘preach’ at you or try to persuade you to my version of faith, but I am comfortable discussing the role of faith in your life and practice. Especially when you find yourself challenged at a deep level, I assume that this will have a spiritual component. If you are interested in the Bible or theology this would be naturally drawn into supervision, as an important lens through which to understand your vocation in your context.
Strengths Focus
Supervision begins from the conviction that you are gifted, called and equipped to do what you are doing … It just might not feel like that to you all the time! My job as supervisor is to help you claim your own strength and apply your own gifts and enhance your competence. This might also mean owning your own vulnerability and accepting where you need other people or (heaven forbid!?) fail to meet everyone’s expectations. Applying understanding of personality type can be a helpful tool in this.
Ethical Practice
Many aspects of supervision raise questions of ethics. I am trained in ethics and will provide you with frameworks for clarifying ethical dilemmas so that you work safe. However, there’s rarely a ‘right answer’, and living with ambiguity and conflict is part of growing in maturity.
Your primary ethical obligation in supervision is honesty. I know for myself the best test of whether I am at risk of acting unethically is if I realise that I don’t want to tell my supervisor about something!
Part of my ethical commitment is to have an ‘ear out’ for anyone in your context who may be vulnerable or at risk. I will challenge you if I have any ‘red flags’ about your practice.
Body Awareness
I am interested in how you experience things physically, especially those related to your work. Emotions are held by the body, and this is an important aspect of self-awareness. Knowing how you deal with stress is vital for physical health and professional resilience.
Interactive Drawing
One method that many people find helpful is to work with crayons on a large piece of paper. This engages the ‘left’ and ‘right’ sides of the brain and can give significant ‘aha’ moments. It is good to move away from the verbal and logical occasionally. Expressing something in colour releases emotion and brings a fresh perspective.
Discernment Prayer
One of my God-given gifts is a form of empathy that comes as I pray for a person while touching them (e.g. my hand on your shoulder). This is not mind-reading but it is energy-reading, into the connection of mind, body and spirit. (I associate this with the gifts of ‘word of knowledge’ and ‘discernment of spirits’ in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.) This is something we could explore if you are comfortable with it.
Blessing Prayer
A Pastoral supervision session would typically close with a spoken prayer of blessing in which the supervisor gathers together the themes and issues shared in the session and offers these to God, together with a prayer for the supervisee. In my practice I allow time for this at the end of a session, if this is something you would appreciate, and would invite you to name the things you wish to pray into. This also helps you to translate your concerns and responses into a positive direction leading you out and back into your working environment … with, I hope, a sense that you are accompanied and held and guided as you go.
Supervision is a professional development conversation for the benefit of the supervisee, especially in their areas of work.
It is a contracted service, typically paid for by the supervisee’s employing body.
It is a partnership in which the supervisee is mostly responsible for the content and the supervisor is mostly responsible for the process.
It involves ongoing contracting and awareness of the supervision process and content.
My supervision practice includes a range of methods. These can be used at different times during supervision, with the agreement of the supervisee, where they may bring particular insight.
Contracting
Supervision is different from all other kinds of conversation in that it is clearly contracted, both at the beginning and throughout the relationship. Things we normally take for granted get brought out for discussion.
Set-up Contracting includes discussing expectations of yourself as supervisee, myself as supervisor, and your employing body.
Supervisee’s expectations might include any particular styles you find helpful or unhelpful.
Supervisor’s expectations are:
- that you will come to supervision with material to discuss, and
- that you engage in the supervision process honestly and fully.
Your employing body will also have expectations of the supervision, and may include some form of reporting, accountability or training.
Clarifying issues around confidentiality hinges particularly on the question of what action I as supervisor might take if I have serious concerns for your wellbeing, or in relation to a situation we have discussed where there are real fears for the safety of another person, especially a child.
Practical contracting includes:
- venue for supervision: normally either in my home consulting room or via Zoom
- cost: to be negotiated
- frequency of normal pattern for supervision, plus possibility of additional session
- reminders: I text the day before.
- cancellation policy: no charge for a cancellation with prior notice, but full charge for a no-show.
Ongoing contracting will include occasionally checking in and asking the question of whether supervision with me is helpful for you, and how it could be improved. Contracting also involves paying particular attention to any ‘red flags’ for either of us, such as:
- differing expectations
- confidentiality questions or other ethical ‘flags’
- dis-ease or feeling unsafe
- going ‘around’ an issue again – are we stuck?
- dodging or avoiding something
Active Listening
This is the mainstay of supervision, where the supervisor actively listens while the supervisee talks. You get to talk about anything you like.
Focus Questions
My purpose in asking you questions is not primarily for my own information, though I might need some basic information to grasp your situation. My questions will focus your attention on your responses to situations. You may need to explain a little about what other people are doing or saying, but I am interested in you, how you feel, how you understand the issues, how you react and how you would like to be in that situation.
Problem Solving
Supervision is a good place to bring dilemmas. We talk them through, perhaps map them visually and identify underlying issues. Moving into problem solving mode involves both creative thinking and critical decision-making. It can be helpful to brainstorm options and think ‘outside the box’ before analysis of ‘pros and cons’, consequences and costs, to enable you move forward confidently with your chosen course of action.
Assessment
At various times, where indicated, I might offer you an assessment. I have a range of assessment tools covering issues such as:
- fatigue and burn-out
- depression and anxiety
- personality type
- leadership and conflict styles
Some involve written questionnaires and others we would do together.
These provide an objective measure of subjective experience, and open up a body of theory which can enrich ministry/professional practice.
Your wellbeing is a core focus of supervision. Where you are feeling overwhelmed, attacked, drained, bullied, overworked, ill or exhausted, I will expect you to take responsibility for addressing your physical, emotional, mental, relational and spiritual needs. I will help you identify what you need and how to attend to this.
I am also concerned for the wellbeing of your partner and family.
System Thinking
I bring to my supervision practice the assumption that as well as being unique individuals we are also part of complex systems, and that growing insight into the wider forces at play around us helps us choose our role and claim our voice. This could lead us into reflecting on:
- family systems and organisation system theory, including dynamics such as homeostasis (why people don’t like change) and triangulation (why people bitch about each other)
- relational dynamics, and how to stay ‘adult’ when other people get into their ‘child’
- gender issues, and how the ‘patriarchy’ functions
- cultural dynamics, including inter-generational culture.
In the Here and Now
I am less interested in the abstract and more interested in the present moment. As you describe situations you face I will be attending to how you are right now. I may call attention to aspects of your posture, tone, and ask you how you are feeling. I am interested in the dynamic between you and I in the session, and what we can each learn from increasing our awareness of this. This is the best way to address what the psychologists call ‘transference’ and ‘countertransference’, the unconscious patterns we slip into and assumptions we make about other people.
If you are struggling with a difficult relationship we could practice ‘courageous conversations’ in role play in order to learn new skills.
‘God-talk’
As a Christian I am open to talking about spirituality. I won’t ‘preach’ at you or try to persuade you to my version of faith, but I am comfortable discussing the role of faith in your life and practice. Especially when you find yourself challenged at a deep level, I assume that this will have a spiritual component. If you are interested in the Bible or theology this would be naturally drawn into supervision, as an important lens through which to understand your vocation in your context.
Strengths Focus
Supervision begins from the conviction that you are gifted, called and equipped to do what you are doing … It just might not feel like that to you all the time! My job as supervisor is to help you claim your own strength and apply your own gifts and enhance your competence. This might also mean owning your own vulnerability and accepting where you need other people or (heaven forbid!?) fail to meet everyone’s expectations. Applying understanding of personality type can be a helpful tool in this.
Ethical Practice
Many aspects of supervision raise questions of ethics. I am trained in ethics and will provide you with frameworks for clarifying ethical dilemmas so that you work safe. However, there’s rarely a ‘right answer’, and living with ambiguity and conflict is part of growing in maturity.
Your primary ethical obligation in supervision is honesty. I know for myself the best test of whether I am at risk of acting unethically is if I realise that I don’t want to tell my supervisor about something!
Part of my ethical commitment is to have an ‘ear out’ for anyone in your context who may be vulnerable or at risk. I will challenge you if I have any ‘red flags’ about your practice.
Body Awareness
I am interested in how you experience things physically, especially those related to your work. Emotions are held by the body, and this is an important aspect of self-awareness. Knowing how you deal with stress is vital for physical health and professional resilience.
Interactive Drawing
One method that many people find helpful is to work with crayons on a large piece of paper. This engages the ‘left’ and ‘right’ sides of the brain and can give significant ‘aha’ moments. It is good to move away from the verbal and logical occasionally. Expressing something in colour releases emotion and brings a fresh perspective.
Discernment Prayer
One of my God-given gifts is a form of empathy that comes as I pray for a person while touching them (e.g. my hand on your shoulder). This is not mind-reading but it is energy-reading, into the connection of mind, body and spirit. (I associate this with the gifts of ‘word of knowledge’ and ‘discernment of spirits’ in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.) This is something we could explore if you are comfortable with it.
Blessing Prayer
A Pastoral supervision session would typically close with a spoken prayer of blessing in which the supervisor gathers together the themes and issues shared in the session and offers these to God, together with a prayer for the supervisee. In my practice I allow time for this at the end of a session, if this is something you would appreciate, and would invite you to name the things you wish to pray into. This also helps you to translate your concerns and responses into a positive direction leading you out and back into your working environment … with, I hope, a sense that you are accompanied and held and guided as you go.