Approach to Supervision
Supervision is a place to develop the necessary skills and practice of counseling to protect one’s clients and become a competent practitioner. My approach to supervision follows the Developmental Model, which adjusts for and to the level of expertise of the supervisee. As a clinical supervisor, I am here to help you learn what you do know and what you do not yet know in a safe and supportive environment that allows you, the supervisee, to be accountable while learning. The needs of the supervisee will change substantially over time and I aim to support and foster that growth while assuring client and therapist safety. I use a reflective model of supervision whether in individual supervision, group supervision, or tape review. The goals of clinical supervision are:
To develop competence in standard mental health assessment and treatment modalities while encouraging learning and growing within the field.
To gain a thorough understanding of theoretical orientations and their practical application.
To develop clinical skills in assessment, treatment planning, implementation and documentation.
To oversee the development of ethical decision making in the clinical setting.
To model and promote appropriate ways to work with issues of culture, gender, sexual identity and preference, religious affiliation or other difference in the counseling setting.
To develop the counselor’s self-awareness and ability to discern what are his/her issues to sort through in clinical supervision and what are the client’s issues so as to avoid counter transference in therapy. While clinical supervision is not therapy, in these instances it may brush up against that boundary as we discern which issues need to be discussed in supervision and which would best be addressed within the supervisee’s own therapy.
To assist the supervisee in reducing their own professional performance anxiety while increasing their professional identity and areas of expertise.
Evaluation Procedure
I use several tools in establishing goals and evaluation of these goals in supervision:
Mutual discussion of strengths and weaknesses over time
Self-assessment tools
University provided therapist evaluations
Therapist Evaluation Checklist by Hall-Marley (2000)
Using these tools we will establish mutually agreed upon goals that we will review during supervision sessions and/or as required by your school or supervision goals. I will keep brief session notes and provide written evaluations for you when supervision is finished or as needed.
Confidentiality
All information shared with me in the context of clinical supervision is held in strict confidence with the following exceptions:
If the supervisee exhibits signs of impairment
If the supervisee exhibits behaviors that are unethical and/or dangerous to the client
If I, as a supervisor, am court ordered to testify about the nature of a supervision relationship or of a client of the supervisee
If a client’s welfare is in danger and it is deemed the supervisee is unable to assist the client adequately
If a child, elderly person, or dependent person is being abused
If I, as a supervisor, seek supervision from another licensed mental health professional
Supervisees must inform their clients that they are obtaining clinical supervision and the bounds of confidentiality within the supervision relationship.
Emergency Contact Information
When you contact me, I may be in session or in a class. I respond fastest to email drstephens@hopefulcounseling.org Please put a phone number where you can immediately be reached in the body of the email and I will call you back as soon as possible. Do not put the full name of a client in the email. You may also call or text my business cell. For an immediate mental health emergency, please dial 911.
Code of Ethics
As your supervisor, I adhere to the ACS Code of Ethics as well as the ACA Code of Ethics. You are responsible for following the Code of Ethics applicable to your credentialing body. As a counselor I also follow the NBCC’s Code of Ethics, State of Maryland’s Code of Ethics, and The District of Columbia’s Code of Ethics.