Clinical Supervision
First off, I’d like to share with you that I truly enjoy providing
clinical supervision to trainees and interns! It’s so rewarding for me
to watch and help new clinicians grow as they gain more and more
experience and skill.
I started providing individual and group clinical supervision to MFT and
MSW trainees and registered interns when I was a Director of Case
Management at Caminar, an agency in San Mateo county serving adults with
serious mental illness. Though there are some unique clinical challenges
in working with this population, there are themes that emerge that are
applicable to any clinician no matter the client population:
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Clear and healthy boundaries: This
is fundamental to successful clinical engagement, not only between
supervisee and client, but also between supervisee and supervisor. I
strive to provide my supervisees a secure environment that invites
thoughtful examination and feedback of the learning and training
process.
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Review and application of theoretical models:
I am guessing that you have probably heard many clinicians state that
they are “eclectic” in their theoretical orientation (yes, my
theoretical orientation is “eclectic” too…). But what does that mean,
really? Well, the analogy I make is one of a classically trained
musician – say, a pianist. This pianist has a lot of raw talent, lots
of great musical ideas and wants to compose great music. However, when
the pianist tries to manifest a potentially great concept, it does not
sound good. Why? Because the pianist needs to learn the theory and
principles, the tools, the mechanics – the rules – first. Once that is
learned, then the pianist is free to draw from this knowledge and
create something original and stunning.
I believe therapy and clinical supervision is similar. We all need to
know the basics theories and therapies that are the pillars of our
field – Psychodynamic, Object Relations, Cognitive Behavioral, Family
Systems, Solution-Focused, Narrative, and so on, in order to do this
work well and figure out what our individual clinical “voice” is. And
then, there is the BBS examination – the proverbial “holy grail” of
license-track clinicians. You are going to need to know these theories
and modalities if you want to pass the test.
I work with my trainees and interns to review the different theories
as they are applied to the cases that come into supervision, so that
they develop a felt sense of the modalities, versus only memorizing
facts. This will help with finding their clinical “voice”, help them
pass the exam, and help them become a well-informed and effective
clinician.
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Working through discomfort:
Training and working as a clinician can sometimes bring about
uncomfortable or unsettling feelings and experiences. However, it’s
oftentimes in those moments of discomfort where what I like to call
“therapeutic gold” can be found. – that is to say, the discomfort is
pointing to something critically salient to the process between the
clinician and client or the clinician and clinical supervisor. I work
to make that “therapeutic gold” an asset for my supervisees, so they
can glean insight from it and use it for clinical benefit.
At times, though, this may be confusing for supervisees. Personal
issues of the supervisee may arise during challenging moments, and it
may seem like clinical supervision has become more like personal
therapy. Though there may be some overlap between clinical supervision
and therapy (and the degree to which is often debated…), clinical
supervision is not personal therapy. If it’s apparent that the
supervisee needs additional support around personal issues, I warmly
encourage them to pursue their own personal therapeutic work. It is my
objective to keep supervision focused on clinical training, and I ask
that my supervisees align their objectives to this end as well.
If you have any question about clinical supervision, feel free to
contact me at any time by phone (408) 351-5433 or email at
albert@albertpignataromft.com. |
