Online Supervision

We currently offer Supervision sessions online, using Skype.

(see below for comments/invitations about working online, from two of our online supervisors)

What is Online Supervision ?

Online supervision is a conversation or dialogue between two people and the success of the work depends largely on the relationship that we are able to form.

You will not be physically in the room together so while a twitch of the shoulders  may be picked up on the screen, some forms of body language will of course not be present. Nevertheless experienced supervisees have found that Online Supervision can be very supportive and profound. Many who cannot get to the Counselling Centre for a variety of reasons have found it a very helpful alternative.

What we offer

Supervisor and supervisee engage through a Skype session, which offers immediate verbal and visual connection (with a web-cam).

Nowadays Skype is very reliable but in the unlikely event of a technical failure the  supervisor will agree alternative arrangements. This may include telephone support as part or all of your session, or contact via email where you may both agree to re-arrange another suitable time.

How can the supervision process work ?

What is needed for both supervisor & supervisee is of course the use of a working space that can reflect good practice in engaging within the therapeutic relationship, i.e. a lack of interruptions and distractions during the online session.  You will be assured of confidentiality on the side of your supervisor and your supervisor will expect you to work ethically and ensure that you have your own personal space that cannot be overheard by others, so that any conversations about your clients remain completely confidential.

How to get started

Email or phone the Centre and we will connect you with an online supervisor

You can see profiles of our supervisors that work online.  When you have chosen who you would like to work with, please let us know and we will send out the contact details.

Information about the Online Supervisor

Any practitioner working from the Centre, whether online or face to face, will be a registered practitioner with BACP or UKCP and work to their Ethical Frameworks.

Those currently offering online supervision are:-

Bob Davis

Jenni Taylor

 

A personal invitation from Bob Davis

Bob is a qualified counsellor, psychotherapist, social worker, counselling supervisor, teacher and life coach. He has many years of experience as a trainer, therapist and supervisor. He now lives in the south of Spain.

‘After many, many years of working as a Psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer I started offering Skype supervision four years ago, when it became impossible geographically for clients to reach me in person.

The supervisees I work with are experienced and well qualified. This feels right, as in my experience novices and trainees need the one-to-one, in-the-room experience, for their initial supervision.

As someone who trained as a Gestalt therapist at the Metanoia Institute, I was initially concerned about several aspects of therapy and supervision on line.

This was a significant move for me into an area of technology I was new to and I first had to consider what happened to important aspects of the therapeutic relationship that would also be pertinent to the supervision relationship, such as body language, breathing, presence, intimacy, experiments and emotional contact.

When I found that there was the opportunity to be creative with the medium with the possibility of profound & meaningful results, I decided to pursue it.

Having looked at Skype, I realised that this method is confidential (encrypted), free of adware/malware and spyware etc. and I believe a good and ethical service is given to supervisees.

I also realized that for a supervisee some of the side benefits were that you could have supervision from the convenience and privacy of their own home. It also means that you do not have to travel, with the resultant savings in time and costs.

With one supervisee I have done several graded experiments within the confines of the camera. Creativity is vital if working online and a lot of what is lost, by not being in the room, can be compensated for by creative supervision on camera.

With another supervisee I have worked on line for many years without using a camera. In this case, I often close my eyes while working with the supervisee. This enhances my listening and focusing.

As a client laughingly once said to me after I had made a tentative, risky, challenging intervention: ‘That’s why I come to you, Bob. You take risks and are so on the ball, even from across the seas!’

I am still learning about this medium but I do know that supervisees have found it convenient, supportive, stimulating and a meaningful growth process.`

Bob works to an integrated, relational way of supervision and is open to additional sessions being agreed by email in cases of therapeutic emergency.

Bob Davis MA

Click here for Bob’s profile

A personal invitation from Jenni Taylor

Jenni is an experienced & qualified counselling supervisor, trained in online counselling and working in an Integrative therapeutic way. She worked with Samaritans for many years first on the phone and then online and has also trained and qualified in supervising practitioners for image work, EMDR & hypnotherapy, alongside her counselling practice.

She was originally from Birmingham, where she has returned to work over recent years, but her private practice is now based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

`If you have not done much work online or not had online supervision before you are very welcome to try it out. It’s wonderful not to have to leave your home/office! It’s a medium I enjoy working in and have online supervision myself for the EMDR work that I do.

My intention is to `be there with you`, almost as though we are physically in the same room. My online supervisees have said this is what they experience and it has given them the confidence and motivation to offer online counselling themselves.

Supervision sessions for counsellors are usually taken in one 1hour sessions or 1.5 hour sessions and i’m flexible to work with extra 30 min slots, as required.

I’m happy to chat with you on the phone about the Integrative sessions I offer online, before you decide upon a session.`  

Click here for Jennie ‘s profile.


Access therapy from the comfort of your own home, where you have personal, physical or geographical reasons for not coming to the Centre.

Are you a business that is looking for support in supporting your employees? We offer employee counselling and clinical supervision. Contact us for an informal discussion.