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108 Six Good Supervisor Characteristics to Strive For

• Dr. Kate Walker Ph.D., LPC/LMFT Supervisor • Season 3 • Episode 108

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What if the key to becoming an exceptional clinical supervisor lies in understanding the foundational challenges faced by new supervisors? Join me, Dr. Kate Walker, as I unveil insights from Chapter 11 of my book, "The Clinical Supervision Survival Guide," designed to make your journey into supervision both impactful and rewarding. Discover strategies for selecting supervisees with mental health experience, using recordings for skill enhancement, and nurturing the gradual growth of Level One counselors. Our conversation promises to equip you with the tools to navigate the anxieties and dynamics of stepping into a supervisory role, setting the stage for successful therapeutic relationships.

In this enlightening episode, we traverse the multifaceted responsibilities of supervisors, highlighting the importance of fostering open communication and strong alliances with site supervisors. Learn the significance of early intervention in potential issues and how to manage supervisees' development effectively, from understanding level two behaviors to ensuring comprehensive evaluations. Whether you're guiding a novice counselor or an experienced professional transitioning roles, our strategies promise to support their journey toward developing a unique therapeutic style. Together, we aim to empower supervisors and their associates to continue delivering exceptional therapy and supervision, contributing to a broader mission of positive change.

Get your step by step guide to private practice. Because you are too important to lose to not knowing the rules, going broke, burning out, and giving up. #counselorsdontquit.

Speaker 1:

Hey, I'm Dr Kate Walker. I'm so glad that you're here. I hope everything is working. I was having a little trouble with the audio this morning, but if that's the case I will just put in my earbud. So if you have questions, no worries, I will. I'll figure out a way to hear you. So today, is you know, I'll figure out a way to hear you. So today is you know?

Speaker 1:

Some scary supervision stories usually start out with either my supervisee did this or what if my supervisee does this. So I have my book that just came out, the Clinical Supervision Survival Guide. It's available on Amazon and I'm actually in Chapter 11. And so in Chapter 11, that's literally the title what if my supervisee does something? Dot, dot dot.

Speaker 1:

So, and I write when supervising, we are caught in a catch-22. Our licensing rules say only counsel within the scope of your expertise, which is understandable. Except level one supervisees have no expertise. So we have to go back to that developmental model, and you guys hear me talk about this again and again and again. Everybody gets to be level one, and that's why I talk about equipment, like making sure your new supervisee has a list of five books they have to read that deal with particular populations or special training if they're at a site where they're in over their head. So we talk about making sure they're equipped. But what if? And that's what this is all about today.

Speaker 1:

This is going to be a little bit of a shorter session today, but I've got a few tips for you. So, as a new supervisor taking your first foray into the world of supervising, you might want to be a little cautious. So as I'm talking to you now my level one supervisors you want to be aware of the supervisee who wants to try something new. Now remember level one. They come out of the grad school with knowledge to pass an exam. They have direct hours. They should have. If you're in Texas, you know that if you're sitting with your LPC associate that they have had practicum hours. So they have sat across, or virtually, a client. They've sat across from a client and delivered counseling services. But if you're a new supervisor, you want to play it a little bit cautious. You want to make sure you have you know. Get your wheels underneath you, because you know what you get to be level one too.

Speaker 1:

So, tip number one stick to supervisees who have previous experience working in a mental health setting. Now, that doesn't mean you won't get a fantastic supervisee who, I don't know, used to be an orchestra teacher. Perhaps that's me, by the way. Yeah, I mean, it was a second career for me and when I came out of grad school I was still an orchestra teacher. I stayed an orchestra teacher for like 18 months while I was trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. But my amazing supervisor, dr Lee. He took me on. But my amazing supervisor, dr Lee. He took me on and I had zero experience in the mental health field and I'm sure he was pulling his hair out much of the time, especially in my early days as his associate or intern back then.

Speaker 1:

Tip number two consider working with supervisees who are only changing roles within a job, like a supervisee who goes from being a case manager to a counselor or from being a teacher to a school counselor. So they have the lay of the land. Maybe they're even staying in the same building, the same site, the same setting, and you, as a new supervisor, you don't have to walk them through this entire career change like I went through. Tip number three if you have a supervisee trying something new right now, ask them to provide you with recordings instead of relying on their self-report. Most supervisees want to do a good job and will probably appreciate the added layer of supervision, and if you're an associate and you're listening to this right now, you may be going no, kate, I hate being observed. I hate having the camera on. My clients hate it. Okay, yes. And if you're trying something new and so what comes to mind for me immediately is let's say that you're working with a couple and when you were in grad school you had zero experience with a couple you know your supervisor can't be in the room with you because maybe they work at a different site or they have clients themselves. So isn't it nice to be able to flip on the camera and then know that you can take it to your supervisor later and then you can both process it together. So try to do the reframe glass half full and realize, as a level one, you need that extra layer as you get your wheels under you. It won't be long. You're going to have all the experience. Then you'll be the expert Number two.

Speaker 1:

If you're a new supervisor and you have a supervisee who wants to work in a setting that is over their head or and this happens it's their first job ever. So sometimes you know a job is a job and especially in rural Texas, you know where we are needing providers. You don't want to set those kinds of limits like no, no, no, you can't work there because you know you haven't been trained. So I want to make sure that I'm not talking out of both sides of my head here. Many of your supervisees will be overjoyed that they can finally make a living in the field that they love, but a job focused on treating what might be considered intense diagnoses or an intense population can be a different story.

Speaker 1:

Level one supervisees can become anxious and have poor judgment when faced with a situation they've never seen before. Heck, I can get anxious when I'm faced with a situation I've never seen before. So, yeah, I'm literally looking at a camera right now talking to me. Especially if the situation triggers counter-transference they haven't yet dealt with and you can bet if they have their own personal experiences with struggling family members, or perhaps they are in recovery themselves, trouble may be ahead. So I'm talking to you new supervisors out there, when you get your first supervisee and it's their first job, or they want to go jump beat first into a setting where you know those diagnoses and I'm saying the word intense, I'm also making air quotes, because I'm not going to go through the list of intense diagnoses. I would tell you to be cautious with that.

Speaker 1:

Now, after you've been supervising for a while and you have seen all kinds of supervisees and all kinds of different settings and you start feeling comfortable, then absolutely you're going to be the one training them. You may be the one who says OK, you can work here, but I want you to show up in my office on Saturday. We're going to do a six hour training on the Gottman method and something, something right. So understand that training isn't a given, especially in places that are underserved. So, as a new supervisor, just be mindful that trying new things isn't always the best thing at first. So, tip number one assess your supervisee. Are they open to the additional training? Are they willing to attend additional supervision your six-hour training on a Saturday, right? If they're like, yes, sign me up. Then you know what. You probably are on the right track with this one. Are they showing evidence that that they are following your and the site's directives? So they are showing that they're teachable. They're showing you that they are able and willing to learn new things. Your comfort supervisor will depend on your supervisee's receptivity to your instruction.

Speaker 1:

Tip number two don't be afraid to set a boundary If you feel like your supervisee is in over their head. Give them the choice of you can work with me or you can work at this job, but you can't do both. I'm happy to reconsider this position once you've shown some level two behaviors or shown proficiency on whatever the criteria is. On your next formal evaluation Remember, we go back to that OER triad. Did you teach it in the orientation? Have you been doing regular evaluations so they know where they are? And yeah, if it's a level one supervisee, you may not have given a formal evaluation yet. Right, they may just have been in your orientation and that's it. So telling them I need you to exhibit some level two behaviors or I need you to achieve a certain criteria on the evaluation is reasonable, especially if you have taught that to them in the orientation. So let me rephrase that it is reasonable and it won't be a surprise if you have explained it to them in the orientation. So setting that boundary can be tough, especially if it's a job where you know they're going to be making great money and they are a wage earner for their family, a significant wage earner for their family. So it can be hard to set that boundary. But I just remind everybody, when we have attorney Ken DeDalrymple, come and talk to our Texas Supervisor Coalition and our monthly consultation groups.

Speaker 1:

You know one of the biggest sources of complaints is source is sources are sorry got to get my conjugations right here are supervisees in over their heads, so they are in settings where they did not get proper training and supervisors. You may be thinking, well, the site is training them right and the site may be saying, yeah, yeah, we trained them and it was a 30 minute training on a video or something like that. So be mindful, especially you new supervisors, that you need to do your due diligence at the site. Contact the site supervisor, lay eyes on the site, walk around if you can Not all sites are you're able to do that. And tip number three don't turn a blind eye. Most likely the situation will be fine and your supervisee will learn a ton from you and the site.

Speaker 1:

But if you sense at any time that your supervisee may be making some critical errors or the site supervisor contacts you with concerns, intervene immediately. And this is tough for my supervisors out there who are afraid of confrontation, or you know it's a challenge for you. You know that's not your happy place and I feel that I'm with you with that, and so that's something to work out. As you are getting used to supervision as a brand new supervisor, recognize that you are a gatekeeper and so if you start to see your supervisee or you hear, or you sense or you notice, pay attention to that and follow through. And that's why I teach the OER triad right, because if you tell your supervisee at the very, very beginning, hey, sit down, we are going to go over this evaluation and it's a conversation, not a chopping block. You are setting the stage for a great relationship where they can be open with you and they can tell you about hey. I'd really like some more training in this. You know this is really challenging for me. I don't know if this is the best fit for me. You're going to be helping them figure out what setting is ideal for them Now, where it can go wrong, and I want to bring this up because it just comes up again and again, because I hear a lot of supervisors saying, well, if I can have a good interview, then everything will be okay and if you've listened to me, you know that's a lot of baloney because we have trained our associates to be excellent conversationalists, which means they're going to give you a great interview, no matter what.

Speaker 1:

And number two, everybody gets to be level one. So, even if they are fantastic and associates listening to this, you are fantastic and we need you and I'm so happy that you're going into the profession and everybody gets to be level one. So when your supervisees come on board, yes, interview them, of course, but talk to your supervisee about a release to speak to their previous supervisors and instructors. Now, interestingly enough, I was on a video call yesterday for one of the LPC board lunch and learns, and actually it was a BHEC lunch and learn. So we had social work, psychology and LPC and LMFT represented there on the video call and one of the questions was actually for social work, but I had the other folks on the call so I was listening for their answers as well and they asked is it a rule that we must get a release of information in order to speak to our supervisees, previous supervisor, previous professor, etc. Right, if it's not HIPAA, if it's not protected health information, you don't need a legal consent form. But Sarah Fasholtz, who is she is the staff head of staff wonderful, amazing woman. She and Christina DeLuna do an amazing job for our boards. She said, you know, but it's best practice, right? I mean, you wouldn't want anybody talking about you without your permission and I'm paraphrasing, but those, essentially, were her words. So remember, with supervision it's all about the relationship. And so, yes, you want to check references, yes, you want to make sure that supervisee is in on that decision, and so they know. Hey, if I was in the room with my new supervisor and my professor, would I be comfortable? Would this be a good conversation? Would I be embarrassed by anything? Right? So make sure that you're checking references and not over relying on that interview.

Speaker 1:

The other kind of painful story I hear a lot, especially in our consultation group, is waiting too long to evaluate or not evaluating at all. And then you've reached a point where you can't. You're just. You and your supervisee are butting heads, and if you can't see me right now, I'm bumping my fists together. So that happens, as you can imagine, when you know something has gone on too long. You know your supervisee has perhaps been unprepared to supervision several times. They've been late to supervision several times, or it's something normal like level two behavior and associates. I've got your back here.

Speaker 1:

At level two, you're supposed to start developing your own style of supervision. You're supposed to be getting more creative. You're supposed to be really developing how you want to do therapy, and that can rub a supervisor the wrong way, especially one that hasn't been trained by me in understanding that these level two behaviors are normal, they are appropriate, they are not to be remediated away, and so when that happens, you basically you've got a situation where the supervisor has not implemented any sort of evaluation or teaching moments with their supervisee and all of a sudden they're just kind of losing their temper, their fuse is too short, and they're like OK, I got to remediate this. You're not doing what I'm telling you to do. And perhaps you my associate, who's listening to this, I hope is thinking well, wait a second. I just did six weeks of Gottman training. Or wait a second. I just did six weeks of Gottman training, or wait a second. I just did EMDR training. I'm I need to try this stuff out, or I'm working at a site with disordered eating and they just trained me on this, this new method, and I need to get some hours practicing this right.

Speaker 1:

So, if this happens, supervisee right, and you know this is actually something you're supposed to be doing I want you to be brave and have the conversation with your supervisor, right. And, supervisor, if you're listening to my voice right now and you're thinking, oh, I think I'm getting annoyed at something that may be appropriate, well, start the conversation about you know, teach me more about this. I want to hear more about this. Let me come to one of your trainings. Let me see one of your training manuals. If you are both in a spirit of curiosity, then this doesn't have to turn into a scary situation. So that's it.

Speaker 1:

Scary supervision stories. What do I do if my supervisee does dot, dot, dot? I hope you're hearing from my voice and from this book, the Clinical Supervision Survival Guide, that there is always hope for this relationship. Right, there's always a way to salvage well, almost always there's a way to salvage the relationship. If you just do some preemptive training, you do some preemptive evaluation, of course, the OER triad and supervisors remember you get to be level one too.

Speaker 1:

So, as you're starting out, take my tips. Think about okay, is this person brand new to the mental health field? Are they just changing jobs within a job? Are they experienced? This isn't their first job, right? So you have some questions that you can ask yourself and you can ask your supervisee so that these scary situations don't have to happen. Or, if they do, you've got tools, you've got tactics, you've got a way to mitigate it so that the relationship isn't negatively impacted and you can keep saving the world with excellent supervision and your associates can keep saving the world with excellent therapy. All right, that's it. I'm Dr Kate Walker. Thank you so much for watching and listening.