Supervision
This formal arrangement is a way for young clinicians to discuss their work regularly with someone who is experienced in both therapy and supervision. The goal is to work together to ensure and develop efficacy of the therapeutic alliance.
Importance of Supervision
Clinical supervision supports trainee mental health professionals by offering oversight and support from a more experienced provider. To become licensed to practice, all mental health providers must complete a minimum number of therapy hours under clinical supervision. The specific requirements vary depending on the license a therapist is seeking in the state of Ohio.
Supervision is not quite teaching, but not quite therapy. The supervisor acts in the capacity of a mentor – trusted friend and counselor – teaching a baseline of theoretical knowledge, guiding the practice of techniques wherein theory is applied, and supporting the young clinician in the development of empathy, and in the capacity to bear ambiguity and intense, often frightening material of the therapeutic process.
The supervisor acts as a model, sharing attitudes, experiences, perspective, moral, ethical, and practical dimensions…the supervisor guides the training without overprotecting or controlling…encourages moderate levels of risk-taking and creativity, but in the safe context of stable amounts of basic security for all parties to the interaction.