Choosing a clinical supervisor can seem like a daunting task. After all, you are likely investing a lot of time and money into working with your supervisor and you hope to find the experience to as valuable as possible. In today’s post I’d like to share some of my thoughts about choosing a clinical supervisor as well as tips from other clinical supervisors.
My thoughts are based a decade of experience; first being a supervisee and then being a supervisor. I have had the benefit of receiving and providing both agency and private supervision, which has influenced my perspective. I also participated in “supervision of supervision” as part of the process to become an AAMFT approved-supervisor. My experience has been in Minnesota and while other states (and other licenses) may have different criteria for supervision, I think that you’ll find that many of these ideas are applicable wherever you are practicing.
Goals
When choosing a clinical supervisor, it is important to be clear on what your goals are in seeking supervision. Beyond wanting to get the hours required for your license, what are you hoping to get out of supervision? Are you hoping to develop a specialty and looking for a supervisor with similar clinical interests? Would you like to focus on self of the therapist issues and need a supervisor who feels comfortable with this work? Are you looking for someone who can help with more of the beyond the scenes work of being a therapist (paperwork, interpreting assessment tools, time management, etc)? The clearer you are on your goals in seeking supervision the more likely you are to find a supervisor that is able to help you achieve your goals.
Look at the big picture
As you consider choosing a clinical supervisor, consider how they fit into the big picture of your process towards licensure.Where are you at in your licensure process? What do you need at this stage of your process? Are you looking for a long term supervisor or something more short term? Are you looking for individual, dyad or group supervision? Does the type of supervision you are looking for influence other factors you may consider when choosing a supervisor? If you already have clinical supervision, what are the topics already covered in your existing supervision and in what areas could you use more support? In what areas may you need some extra challenging?
Qualities of the Supervisor
In choosing a clinical supervisor, you should take a look at his or her qualities and how they fit with your needs. The qualities of your supervisor may influence how well you are able to learn from him/her. It may be helpful to consider the qualities of previous supervisors that you really appreciated, even those outside of the mental health field. How do you like to check in with a supervisor about your progress? How do you like to receive feedback? What communication styles click well with you and which rub you the wrong way?
Renee Beck provides supervision in California and suggests a variety of questions that potential supervisees should ask their supervisor. Renee suggests asking questions such as; “Does your supervisor have the same conceptual framework about what happens in therapy as you do?” or “Do they have enough time and space for you?” You can read more of the questions that Renee suggests by visiting her blog post 3 Kinds of Counseling Internships: What You Need to Know (note: in California, the pre-licensed individuals are considered interns)
Ili Walter from Family Therapy Basics wrote a blog post called 5 Factors for Finding the Right Clinical Supervisor. One of the factors Ili mentioned in her post is the supervisor’s style, so I asked Ili to share some thoughts on how supervisees can assess their potential supervisor’s style. Ili said, “The best way to assess supervisors styles is by asking them about it and meeting with them in person for an interview. This allows supervisees to have a perspective and an experience with the supervisor in order to evaluate them both. To assess the supervisor’s style, a simple question will do, such as “How would you describe your style, or the relationship you like to foster, with supervisees?”
Logistics
You may find your dream supervisor, but if you can’t figure out the logistics, it’s not going to work. The logistics include things such as; where you will meet, availability for supervision meetings and cost.
I asked Ili from Family Therapy Basics if she’d share some additional thoughts on how to assess a supervisor’s value when looking at the cost of supervision. Ili said; “The value of a particular supervisor is subjective. Although the supervisor’s experience (and type of experience) is something to consider, it won’t necessarily transfer to value for a particular supervisee. Value is determined by what the supervisor offers and how she or he offers it. If the supervisor is skilled in an area that the supervisee would like to learn, or is qualified in a variety of specialties, for example, this may be valuable to the supervisee.” Read more about Ili’s thoughts about the cost of supervision in her post.
As you can see, there are a variety of elements that come into play when choosing a clinical supervisor. If you are choosing a clinical supervisor, I encourage you to take time to reflect on what you are hoping to get out of the supervision process and to take the time to connect with a supervisor before you start working together. The investment in both of these areas will be worthwhile, in my opinion, as you are more likely to end up with a supervisor that will be a good fit for you.
Please feel free to leave a comment below with other factors that you think supervisees should consider when choosing a clinical supervisor.
Sarah
If you are in Minnesota and seeking clinical supervision, I may be able to help. I provide clinical supervision for those seeking LMFT, LPC and LPCC licenses at my office in Eagan, Minnesota. To learn more about my supervision services please visit my supervision page.