SuperVision

So what is supervision? 

SuperVision is distinct from supervision as it is known in some other professions where it can be more akin to line management. Personal psychotherapy and SuperVision are also two separate activities with differing aims and goals.  

At the heart of the SuperVision process is a professional relationship, which promotes the welfare of the client and the development of the supervisee. SuperVision is a process of critical reflection on a person's work, thereby enabling transformative learning to take place. Being aware of the shadow aspect of the human person is also one of the primary tasks of SuperVision. SuperVision at its best provides a place to bring issues from work in a safe, but challenging context.

SuperVision is an currently an on-going requirement in counselling, psychotherapy, and other therapeutic disciplines.  However I have found that people in various professions have found it provides them with a unique and invaluable service.  Professions such as the legal profession, tax consultants, therapeutic practitioners, spiritual directors, gardai, fire service, and people in religious life are some examples. The reasons they give are often to do with support, privacy and the benefit of another view that understands the workings of the unconscious.  

SuperVision provides an opportunity to explore work or business related issues from a personal perspective with view to Continued Professional Development (CPD) which is increasingly becoming a requirement in many professions, particularly for those people who meet others in a personal way as part of their work.   

You will notice I present the word differently ‘SuperVision.’ In the freshness of the unfamiliar appearance, the depth of meaning of the process of SuperVision itself is better captured by this particular representation. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines ‘Super,’ as excellence, which parallels the suggestion that good SuperVision will always strive for excellence even in the face of adversity. Likewise the definition for ‘Vision’ as ‘the faculty or state of being able to see’ or ‘the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom,’ best summarises what can happen in effective SuperVision.

I welcome your comments or questions.  Call her on 353 86 8545407 or e-mail   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   I am available for SuperVision by appointment in both Dublin and Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath.  

‘Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.’
                                                                                                     C. G. Jung (1875 - 1961)