Preparing for our clinical supervision sessions helps us to get the most out of them. It helps us to:
- Get into a reflective headspace;
- Choose what to bring for the most valuable use of our time;
- Communicate the key case details including stuck points efficiently;
- Ask clearly for what we want from our supervisor.
So, how can we prepare effectively? Is there a ‘right’ way? What if you’ve never actually been taught how to prepare? Are you and your supervisor on the same page?
These are questions I hear from my supervisees, and that I’ve reflected on in my own practice. If you’re feeling unsure, then you’re not alone. From when we’re fresh in training and learning about everything, to when we’re very experienced and juggling many demands on our time, or if organisation is not our strong point, it’s easy to feel confused.
Also – before your self-critic is harsh – it’s great that you’re asking these questions, or have been intrigued enough to read this. I think it’s a sign that you’re a conscientious and reflective clinician.
Here I offer some of my thoughts on how to respond, and a free downloadable template as a guide below.
Whilst I specialise in CFT Supervision (Compassion Focused Supervision) and CFACT Supervision, this is also relevant for CBT Supervision or Psychology/Psychotherapy Consultancy.
1. What do you need to do, to give you the best chance of getting your needs met?
Ultimately, I think it comes down to what do you need from your supervision, and what preparation will help you get that.
I know I want to be helpful to my supervisees, so if they can prepare themselves, give me the info, and ask for where they need help, it means I’ll be better able to understand and respond accordingly.
Your needs will of course vary, and everyone’s process is individual, so there’s no ‘right’ way.
For example:
- If you need specific questions or case dilemmas answered, or you want to explore things with an experiential practice, how can you prepare to communicate the key contextual details and supervision question efficiently?
- If you’re feeling messy and emotional, do you need to set aside preparing ‘properly’, embrace your vulnerability, and take it to supervision so you can feel held, supported, and untie the knots together?
- If you need a safe and reflective space, how could you mentally transition at the start of your session? Could you take some time before, or would you like to ask for a settling-in practice?
- If you are an intuitive and creative clinician, but organisation is not your strong point and you feel messy, would it be an act of self-compassion to set aside more preparation time?
2. Supervision Question
A supervision question is your way of asking for what you need most.
What do you want to take from your session? Where are you feeling stuck, or what skills do you want to practice?
As a supervisor I can sometimes have different ideas about where to go, but this might not match what you hoped for, so it really helps if someone lets me know where they want to focus.
If possible, I invite you to ask the question first, before explaining your issue/case. This helps you and your supervisor to focus on the relevant details.
A supervision question might be:
- Specific (e.g. ‘How do I do a Safe Place when they can’t feel safe?):
- Exploratory (e.g. ‘What’s happening in our therapeutic relationship?);
- Open (e.g. ‘I’m stuck, what the heck do I do?).
It might include a request to work on it a particular way, e.g. shared formulation, role play, or chairwork.
Sometimes it’s not easy to clarify your question. One tip I use in preparation is to flip around the order that I work on it, so I think about the details first and then the question.
However, I don’t think we need to be rigid. If there are times when you say ‘I’m not sure exactly what I’m asking’ then it can be a useful part of the supervision process to explore that together.
3. Case Presentation
You often know a lot of detail about a case, especially if there’s complexity or you’ve been working together a long time, so no wonder if it takes some time to organise your thoughts.
What key information do you need to convey?
How much time do you want to spend on catching your supervisor up, before getting into exploration and experiential work?
As a baseline, you’ll need to decide a list of cases/questions to bring. You might choose to allow space for 1 thing in detail, or 2-3 max (per 1hr individual session).
If you want to be focused or talk about 2+ clients, then I’d suggest aiming for 5-10 minutes per case presentation, so that you can use the rest of your time to work on it together. Aim to cover:
- Client name/identifier, demographic, session no/total
- Supervision question
- Presenting problem and goals (maybe also what you think the client is really seeking from therapy e.g. a ‘fix’ or someone to talk to)
- Brief formulation (as far as you’ve got with this)
- What you’ve tried so far/treatment plan
- Optional: therapeutic relationship
This is a skill that takes some practice, and I notice in my own supervision that I’m clearer some days than others. I find it helpful to make a few mental/paper bullet points in advance. You could use the downloadable template below as a guide.
However, for the times when this doesn’t feel right…
4. It’s OK to be Messy and Vulnerable
Sometimes the work of supervision is exactly this – to hold and digest the ‘mess’, your emotions, the stuckness, the relational transference.
Sometimes you’re swamped. Sometimes it’s a feature of working with complexity. Sometimes it’s your own stuff.
You are a human, not a supervision robot!
This is particularly common with experiential and relational therapy, like CFT (Compassion Focused Therapy), because we acknowledge and turn towards difficulty. It can be a road into a lot of rich clinical material, or when you can learn the most.
Therefore, I invite you to embrace the times when it feels like this. Yes, let’s prepare as best we can most of the time, and if things regularly feel out of hand then I invite you to look at that, but let’s create a safe place in supervision to work with difficulty.
Let’s open up to what you might discover and learn, and allow you to feel fully supported by your supervisor.
Further Reading
Free downloadable blank template HERE.
Free downloadable template with guidance notes HERE.
Also see ‘How do you get the most out of ACT supervision?’ by Jim Lucas (it says ACT, but I think it applies to most of us).
