Articles from Fall 2007 Newsletter
The Art of Supervision
by Rachel B. Michaelsen, LCSW
When I first started supervising I had no idea what I was getting into. I enjoyed teaching and had done several theoretical presentations for the interns at the agency where I worked. I saw supervision as an extension of teaching and was excited by the idea of teaching others how to do psychotherapy. Having had several difficult experiences as a supervisee, I had several ideas of things not to do, but had very ideas of actually what to do. And at the time there were no training requirements for supervisors so I just jumped in. Fortunately, I only offended some of my interns those first few years.
It wasn't until I began preparing to teach the 15-hour course in clinical supervision that I started to realize some of my biggest mistakes. I recognized that I hadn't been clear about how supervising differs from teaching.
Now I look at supervision as a balancing act: challenging the supervisee without overwhelming them while supporting and encouraging them without infantilizing them. Adding to the mix, supervisors also must balance these along with responsibilities to the supervisee's clients, the agency and the supervisee. And of course, all of this must be done while keeping in mind the legal and ethical considerations related to client care and supervision.
This may all seem a bit overwhelming, but I have found supervision to be tremendously rewarding! I have enjoyed facilitating my supervisees' growth as mental health professionals. It is exciting to reflect upon changes over the time of an internship year or between annual evaluations. It is most rewarding to see supervisees implement the skills and ideas learned in supervision, and when we can both recognize their positive impact on clients.
Since I first taught the course in 2000, I have grown as both a supervisor and instructor and this class has evolved due to my reflection on these experiences. Course topics include: how to complete a learning assessment with new supervisees; supervision techniques and methods; managing anxiety and difficult situations; supervising trauma cases and addressing vicarious traumatization; the difference between psychotherapy and supervision; cross-cultural issues in supervision; legal and ethical issues in clinical supervision; and dual relationships.
To learn more about the Online Clinical Supervision Training, click here.
Faculty Spotlight - Diana Poulson, MA, MFT
Diana Poulson MA, MFT is the instructor for Building Your Therapy Practice: What They Didn't Teach You in Grad School. She has been involved in the mental health and human services field for over 30 years. As an educator, counselor and program coordinator Diana worked at several non-profit organizations including Family Education Center, Social Advocates for Youth, Sonoma County Adult and Youth Services, the Battered Women's Center and Kid's Turn of Sonoma County before going out on her own in private practice in 1998. She has also been teaching Sociology at Santa Rosa Junior College since 1994 and currently is facilitating workshop for unemployed and displaced workers through Job Link of Sonoma County.
With the therapeutic field changing to a medical model and the "take over" by the managed care system , Diana realized her education had done nothing to prepare her for the world of business and "competition" in the market place. She and her colleagues often found business practices conflicting with the healing philosophy they believed in so she set out to create a practice that honored her own values both personal and professional, but with the ability to maintain a viable place in the market and one that would sustain herself and her family. She began to help colleagues with ideas for developing and marketing their practices and soon created workshops on the business of private practice.
With her practice taking on a life of its own, she was asked by the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence to offer a workshop on the emotionally loaded topic of money. Diana and her colleague Winchell Quan, MFT, whose background included accounting, designed two workshops - "You and Your Money Relationship", and "It's All About M.E." (mindful experience) - which they continue to offer today.
From this experience she began to envision other collaborative efforts with other professionals and is currently working with Harvard Graduate, Dr. Birute Regine from New Hampshire, Beth Blevins and Kathe Schaaf of Gather the Women Global Matrix and others on a the Iron Butterfly Symposium, a workshop and café series empowering women through a feminine model of leadership.
Additionally, Diana is working with Career Passion Coach & Change Integration Facilitator Sharona ES and Diane Moore on programs to support human needs in the work place, realigning the values of business to include people before products and profits. Her dream is nothing short of participation in the movement to fundamentally change the culture of business to reflect compassion and respect for all life of this beautiful planet.
In her other life Diana is raising her two young grandchildren and attends soccer games and band recitals on a regular basis.
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