I view supervision as a professional relationship and collaborative process. My main aim as a supervisor is to create the conditions for the development of reflective, ethical practice in which therapists can enjoy developing their competence and a way of working and being that is congruent with their experience, beliefs and values.
A lot of my work also includes providing supervision for counsellors and psychotherapists. Here I describe my understanding and approach to supervision, but please contact me if you are interested in supervision with me and wish to know more.
Providing consultative support and supervision was a strong and valued feature of my previous work over 25 years as a psychiatrist. I bring this knowledge and experience to my role as supervisor of therapists. I also bring many years of experience as a therapist, working in the voluntary sector and more recently in private practice. In June 2024 I completed a diploma in Relational Supervision, a training provided by Severn Talking Therapy.
My previous professional background means I am also well placed to understand complex and severe mental distress and disturbance, as well as psychiatric related concerns and issues clients may bring (for example, those related to psychiatric diagnosis and psychiatric drugs). I also have an in-depth knowledge and experience of how the so-called ‘medical model’ influences thinking and practice. My natural leaning is towards holistic and socio-cultural perspectives on human distress and difficulty.
The style of supervision I provide is underpinned by my commitment to humanistic and person-centred values and principles. As such, I work in a relational way. I am interested in the person of the therapist as well as their work and therapeutic process with clients, and also the influence of the context (e.g. organisational) in which therapists work.
By paying particular attention to the nature and quality of the supervisory relationship, I hope that therapists may feel confident and safe enough to bring all aspects of themselves and their work, in the spirit of learning, growing and becoming the best therapist they can be.
I aim to work flexibly in terms of focus and the functions and tasks of supervision, according to the needs and experience of therapists. In general, depending on their level of development, I trust therapists to identify what they need to bring to supervision.
My approach to supervision probably means that I am best suited to work with therapists who work within the humanistic family of therapies.
I provide supervision either in person or on-line and I am also happy to provide one-off consultation sessions.
My fee for a 60 minute session is £70-80 (negotiable). Sessions can be longer if needed, with payment on a pro-rata basis.
I work in accordance to BACP professional guidance and Ethical Framework.
