1 Supervising Therapist's Through Life's Challenges Navigating the Thin Line Between Mentoring and Therapy Facilitator- Ruby Blow, MA, LPC, NCC, CPCS, ACS www.developmentcounts.com The purpose of this event is to prepare supervisors to check therapy/therapeutic instincts and wear their mentoring hat. To assist supervisors with addressing the needs of their supervisees as they navigate life's inevitable challenges: • grief and loss. • illness. • loss of employment. • changes in relationship status. • business ending ethical and legal problems with employers. The goal is to reduce the risk of abuses of power, while supporting both the supervisor and the supervisee's needs to maintain a personal professional relationship. The objectives include: (1) noticing and responding whether it is in person or at a distance to changes in supervisee's behavior, specifically as a mentor and supervisor. (2) making recommendations for therapists/supervisees based on who they are, rather than general and standard responses. (3) Navigating boundary crossings vs boundary violations as it relates to entering the personal world of your supervisees. Objective 1 Noticing and responding whether it’s in person or at a distance to changes in supervisee's behavior, specifically as a mentor and supervisor. Noticing- Supervisor’s Responsibility • Maintaining the supervisory relationship- you cannot supervise someone you are not speaking to regularly. • Addressing gaps in supervision- when a supervisee is not showing up, presume it is for a reason. Try to find out what is happening on their end. • Making sure supervisees are utilizing supervision appropriately. When supervisees are not participating meaningfully you must attend to the matter. Facilitator Ruby Blow, Licensed Professional Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor www.developmentcounts.com 2 Signs that something is wrong • Not attending scheduled supervision meetings. • Regular reports of difficulty connecting with clients. • Frequent changes in employment. • Frequency of communication within supervision meetings changes. Personal Challenges • No clinician escapes personal challenges. In fact, being a therapist can have a unique impact on personal challenges. • Therapists often cultivate personal relationship wherein they are relied upon to provide a disproportionate amount of the emotional labor and support. • When therapists continue their personal development particularly during graduate school and the post graduate years working toward licensure…their growth can inspire a shift in their relational values and practices. • Supervisors experience their own challenges. • Supervisors must be cautious about promoting comparisons while still sharing some from their own experiences. • Fewer hidden dimensions from Supervisor to Supervisee as compared to Therapist to Client. This allows to the supervisor to share aspects of their own journey. However, like in therapy the supervisor must be cautious to keep the focus on the needs of the supervisee. • Often supervisees relate more to one another than to the supervisor. • Social- personal relationships. Social isolation, divorce. • Financial- insufficient income, debt, loss of income • Emotional- grief, loss • Mental- mental health concerns, stress management • Professional- challenges at work or with superiors and peers at work • Spiritual- loss of faith and/or imposition of faith. Not recognizing identity regarding relationship to spirit. • Cultural- challenges unique to cultural identity and the state of the world. • Medical- health problems and possible neglect of self-care. Responding to challenges • Levels of intrusion • Start at the least invasive method of communication Facilitator Ruby Blow, Licensed Professional Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor www.developmentcounts.com 3 • Accelerate efforts if there is no response • Your supervisees have a right to keep their private lives private. They also have a responsibility to share or report problems that impact their ability to practice. • Our reactions to their disclosures need to prioritize safety. Supervisees fear the loss of our professional support. Objective 2 Making recommendations for therapists/supervisees based on who they uniquely are, rather than general and standard responses. What we need to learn and observe about our Supervisee’s • Support system • Temperament • Communication style • Beliefs • Conscientiousness • Culture • Boundaries Therapy Recommendations? • While therapy is helpful and recommended for therapists. • It is only as effective as the provider’s skills and the therapist/participant’s willingness to be vulnerable to the process. Qualities of a Therapist’s Therapist • Experience treating therapists. • Secure (not easily threatened) • Ethical & flexible • Subtle as it relates to the use of techniques • Humanistic Objective 3 Navigating boundary crossings vs boundary violations as it relates to entering the personal world of your supervisees. Facilitator Ruby Blow, Licensed Professional Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor www.developmentcounts.com 4 Mentoring- Advising and Training Supervisor as Guide and Gatekeeper…we often speak of the Gatekeeper role to keep people from the profession who are not suited or harmful. • Supervisor as Guide- ushering therapists into the profession. Forecasting challenges and concerns that all therapists face. • Being a supervisor allows for approaches that being a therapist does not. • Because eventually the supervisor and supervisee will be colleagues on equal professional footing within a shared community. • The therapist • Supervisors are not seeking to identify dysfunction and mental illness. However, if either are apparent and observable the supervisors respond to advise the supervisee about addressing their needs. • Supervisors might recommend breaks from therapy. Supervisory Boundary Crossing • Potentially Beneficial- but this does not mean that they should be embarked upon without thought and purpose. • Stepping alongside the supervisory relationship and expanding into more of a peer relationship. • Examples- attending a supervisee’s celebratory event Supervisory Boundary Violation • Harmful- a breach of the supervisee’s boundaries which compromising their physical and/or emotional safety. • Example- Providing therapy to your supervisee/becoming a supervisor to a therapy client • Example- Sexual contact with a supervisee Challenges Unique to Therapists • Feeling inadequate as a professional because of personal problems. • Early Career- concerns about how personal problems- particularly relationalqualify or disqualify them as it relates to competency. Fears about hypocrisy…struggles with feeling like an imposter. • Mid-Career- Adjust to compartmentalizing or integrating or something in between…personal and professional identity. More self-compassion. • Late Career- Shifting identity beyond Therapist. Challenges not viewed per se as any relationship to professional identity. Facilitator Ruby Blow, Licensed Professional Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor www.developmentcounts.com 5 In Closing • Periodically Therapists must evaluate whether a personal challenge limits their ability to practice and what to do about it. • In early stage these therapists may leave the profession or move adjacent to the profession. • Mid-stage may move into administration. • Late-stage may partially retire or retire from the profession. • The support of a caring Supervisor is vital. • A caring supervisor provides guidance while minimizing negative judgment. • The Supervisor is like a coach/consultant recommending next steps and offering resources when requested. • An intentional supervisor considers previous experiences and feedback from the supervisee about how they want to be treated. Facilitator Ruby Blow, Licensed Professional Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor www.developmentcounts.com
