Counselling supervision: principles and practice

¶ … Supervisory Relationship

Counseling supervision entails that persons in a therapeutic role are supervised by a peer for the purpose of professional and personal development. The supervisor makes recommendations according to his or her observations, and helps the counselor to perform better or to make modifications for the benefit of the patients. Supervision could also occur in a group setting, where several therapists are involved in the supervisory role (Holloway 1995: 21).

In the United Kingdom, all counselors are required to undergo supervision, regardless of elements such as experience or perceived performance. The reason for this is that it is often seen by both professional supervising bodies and therapists themselves as ethically imperative. In the United States, however, many counselors work without supervision.

This is the result of the evolution of counseling and its associated practice in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In the former, supervision is required only during training, whereas accredited counselors are not required to undergo supervision. In the United Kingdom on the other hand, counseling supervision is a lifetime commitment (Holloway 1995: 68).

Supervising paradigms are thus often the result of culturally developed norms of providing counseling to clients. In the United States for example, the conceptual influencing practice requires counselors to be supervised only in training, whereas they are left to practice on their own after training. The British model focuses more on practice moving towards theory, which makes peer review and consistent standards of theoretical counseling practice important.

While it appears that counseling supervision is beneficial for both client and counselor, it is important to take into account cultural factors that may be involved. Some countries may favor the perception of greater privacy when in consultation with only one individual, while other cultures may value the security that is brought about with counseling supervision (Holloway 1995: 115). This is also related to the development of the various countries in relation to counseling practice.

As supervision develops then, there are various stages that may be used as a springboard for ideas relating to the roles of counseling supervisors. The first step in this evolution is that counseling and psychology become more professionalized. There is for example and increasing number of counselors, and an increasing number of persons making use of their services.

The following step is that supervision becomes an important part of counselor training as well as counseling work. This helps to keep both practice and theory consistent, as well as to protect the client, as seen below. This is followed by experienced counselors assuming the roles, tasks and functions of supervisors. In other words, these experienced counselors now act as supervisors for less experienced counselors (Holloway 1995: 114).

The step after this is research. Models, theories and approaches are developed to help counselors function better at their jobs. It is also during this step that other countries become involved in developing the local practice and theory of the counseling process and the supervision that is to accompany it. With globalization, this has become a particularly important step in counseling (Jacobs 1996: 72).

Following such development, codes of ethics become increasingly important, and are specifically outlined. Formal training is then implemented for both counselors and supervisors, and supervision is finally seen as an essential part of training, practice and research in counseling work. This implies that the United States is at a lesser stage of development than the United Kingdom in their supervisory practice. The increasing amount of contact between countries will indeed help to provide better service to counseling clients.

Once again, it is vitally important that cultural awareness be maintained with regard to counseling supervision at all times. Codes of ethics and the role of counselors and supervisors in the life of the client are not viewed in the same light for all countries. Sensitivity to issues of personal privacy and need is also important to provide the client with the optimal service in counseling (Jacobs 1996: 50).

Supervision in the United Kingdom is required in order to protect clients and to provide improved quality of service to clients. Counselors who are supervised by impartial third parties for example can be protected from the risk of serious oversights and of involving their own feelings and prejudices in the counseling process. The counselor is therefore helped to remain focused upon the job at hand as well as the specific needs of the client (Carroll 1996: 55).

The value provided to a client is then improved by the comments the counselor receives from the supervising peer. The process then helps the client to have more confidence in the counseling session. Thus both the counselor and the client benefits from the supervising counselor.

Clients may be concerned because details regarding their specific problem are related to persons other than the counselor him- or herself. The rules of client confidentiality are however as firm with more than one party as they are with the single counselor. Strategies to ensure that confidentiality is safeguarded include the fact that personal, identifying information, such as the client's full name, is not revealed to the supervising counselor. Other information provided by the client is subject to a confidentiality contract, and usually may not be shared outside the counseling and supervising relationship. The details that are shared in the supervision relationship are therefore not traceable to the specific client, and thus cannot be used for any purpose beyond the supervision relationship (Jacobs 1996: 150).

While counseling is offered in an ethically rigorous way, a client should be given the confidence to ask whatever questions he or she wishes regarding the supervising process and the persons involved. The client also has the right to gain full understanding of the whole process and its reasons before deciding to continue with the counseling process (Carroll 1996: 41).