Have you ever considered becoming a clinical supervisor, but are yet to do anything about it?
Perhaps you’ve thought that supervisors form part of an elusive field that only a select few can practice in.
Or maybe you haven’t thought about what else supervision could bring to your therapy practice or your clinical skills.
There are a number of that can come from becoming a clinical supervisor for therapists.
Here are our top 5 for you to consider:
1. You advance your skills as a psychotherapist
When you become a clinical supervisor, you also advance your own skills as a psychotherapist.
This is because as a supervisor, you develop the ability to take a ‘meta’ view of the work of psychotherapy and harness the ability to ‘zoom out’ and look at the big picture of what is going on within you, your supervisee and the supervisee’s relationship with their client.
You will also improve your skills of assessment, evaluation and review as you work closely with your supervisee, which are also very compatible and important skills to have as a psychotherapist.
2. Being a supervisor keeps you up-to-date on the latest developments and advances in the field of psychotherapy
As a clinical supervisor, you’re exposed to a wide range of therapist-client issues through the work with your supervisees.
So it’s essential that you continue to expand your own learnings about psychotherapy and the craft of psychotherapy to be able to assist, support and encourage your supervisees.
With our field constantly changing and evolving, becoming a supervisor means you need to continually advance your own knowledge of the latest developments and advances in psychotherapy.
The other important point is you develop a different skill set to that of a psychotherapist by being a supervisor – that of evaluating and rating the professionalism and competence of a practitioner. You need knowledge of factors to look for, as well as the elements essential to become a competent practitioner.
3. You can support and influence emerging psychotherapists
Have you considered that it can be incredibly rewarding to support and influence emerging psychotherapists who have recently entered the field?
Many new therapists are anxious about entering the field and keen to develop their therapeutic skills. As a supervisor, you can enjoy the process of support, instruction, advice and encouragement, as well as track how they are going in their development.
Along with emerging therapists, you can also supervise more established therapists and enjoy the collegial relationship that can develop through working with your peers.
4. You add an additional income stream to your practice
Adding clinical supervision to your suite of services is a great way to add an additional income stream to your private practice.
Anyone in private practice knows that running a psychotherapy business can involve natural peaks and troughs in your income, due to holidays, sickness, and cancellations.
When you also add clinical supervision services, you are also able to diversify your income and can supplement the quiet times within your practice with your supervisory work.
5. You diversify your private practice clients
Finally, not all therapists want to work with therapy clients every day of the week.
So adding supervision sessions throughout your week can be a great way to break up your day and re-energise you for your therapy sessions.
Overall, a diversified private practice will help you achieve a more balanced therapy practice that is rewarding and satisfying in many ways.
