Diploma in Clinical Supervision

Who is the course for?

For counsellors, psychotherapists, teachers, mental health and medical staff, social workers, consultants and others in the helping professions who are ready to take on a supervisory role.

The course reflects BACP and UKCP standards for supervision training. It is good preparation if you are working towards BACP or UKCP accreditation, or if you are a Certified Transactional Analyst planning to become a PTSTA.

How will the course be structured?

Over six weekends, Patrick and Anita combine teaching, group discussion and small-group exercises, with pre-reading and short tasks between sessions. Much of the time is spent supervising, in live practice sessions with feedback from your peers and tutors.

Alongside the course you complete 40 hours of supervision practice, overseen by a consultative supervisor.

You cover the main models of supervision, ethics and the law, risk, diversity and the treat/teach boundary. You also learn to adapt your style to supervisees at different stages.

What does it cover?

• The supervisory relationship and what makes for ‘effective’ supervision.
• Developing a working alliance with supervisees
• Establishing and managing an ongoing supervisory contract.
• Examining different styles of supervision
• The main developmental models of supervision to understand the ‘task’ and competencies.
• Handling Fitness to Practise issues
• Raising and discussing issues of importance, including ethics, boundaries, diversity, disability, culture, and organisational sensitivities
• Working with the unconscious process: transference, countertransference, and parallel process
• Different modes of supervision (e.g. one-to-one and group)
• Long-term versus short-term supervision
• Safety and assessment of risk
• Creative Supervision
• Supporting supervisees through accreditation and qualification.

Assessment and qualification requirements

• Attendance on all 12 days of the training
• A micro-teach on a supervision subject of your choice
• A group assessment of a live recording
• 40 hours of supervision practice, overseen through 10 hours of consultative supervision
• A 3,000-word case study
• Subject-specific reading throughout the course

You can meet the assessments to suit your timetable, as long as they are completed within one year from the commencement of the course.

What outcomes can I expect?

You qualify with the Connexus Institute Diploma in Clinical Supervision (120 hours of CPD) and can practise as a supervisor in your own field, with a network of peers to support you.