Clinical Supervision & Consultation

It depends in part on what your registration asks of you. If your registration requires you to practise with clinical supervision and you do not already have a primary supervisor, then supervision is what you need here. The supervisory relationship is ongoing, with records and shared responsibility. We meet on a regular rhythm, holding the direction of your clinical work and the responsibilities that come with it.

Consultation suits two situations. You already have a primary supervisor and want additional support alongside that relationship. Or your practice is established and you want another perspective on a case that will not settle, or on a decision you keep turning over. Consultation is focused on a goal we set for the work you bring, with responsibility for your clinical decisions remaining entirely yours.

Supervision carries your caseload, returning to the same clients as their work unfolds. Consultation stays with what we have agreed to focus on, so even across several sessions we are not holding ongoing oversight of the same client work. If you find yourself wanting to return to the same clients repeatedly, in detail, over time, supervision is the better fit.

And if it is unclear, that is a reasonable place to be. Bring the situation rather than the category to a first conversation, and we will work out which fits.

One-to-one gives you the whole hour. The time is yours, which means our work together is built around your practice, shaped by the learning goals you set and by what you bring to each session. It can carry the primary supervision your registration asks of you, and it counts toward the individual or dyadic hours CRPO requires.

The Circle is clinical group supervision, held with a closed cohort across a season. As your supervisor I hold the space, so your work is reflected on alongside your colleagues'. Something you notice in a colleague's case often turns out to be live in your own. Participation counts toward your group supervision hours, and the Circle can complement a primary supervisory relationship.

If you are required to practise with supervision, one-to-one is where to begin. If your practice is established, either can be the main form your supervision takes.

Yes, formal training in a somatic discipline alongside your clinical registration. We are each responsible for practising within the limits of our training, and somatic work is no exception: the methods you use with clients need to be ones you have trained in.

Supervision and consultation here work on the integration. How what you have trained in is finding its way into your sessions, where it lands well, and where you hesitate. You do not need to feel fluent. Most clinicians arrive partway in, still working out how the two sides of their training fit together. What matters is that there is a training underneath for us to build on.

Supervision runs on a rhythm we set together and record in the supervision agreement. What suits you depends on your experience, your caseload, and what other support you have in place. CRPO's guidance is a useful starting point: approximately weekly for a Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), and about every two weeks for an RP working toward independent practice. We set learning goals at the start alongside the rhythm, and review both as your practice changes.

Consultation is booked as you need it. We put a consultation agreement in place before the first session, setting out how we work and what you can expect, and it does not commit you to a schedule. You might come once about a particular case, or work across a few sessions toward something more specific, such as bringing somatic approaches into your work with a particular client population.

That depends on which one we are in. CRPO asks that at least half of your supervision hours be completed in individual or dyadic format. Individual supervision with me counts toward that half, as does dyadic supervision, which is available by request. Group supervision in the Circle counts toward the remainder, recognized in cohorts of three to eight, with your logged hours reflecting the gatherings you attend. CRPO also limits how many group hours count at each stage of registration, so it is worth tracking your own totals as you go. Clinical consultation sits outside a supervision agreement and provides no hours.

Supervision hours and direct client contact hours are two separate records. I attest to the supervision hours you complete with me, in whichever format we meet. If you are registered with CRPO, that attestation is their Clinical Supervisor Attestation Form, which I complete and sign and send to you to submit with your hours. Direct client contact hours are usually confirmed by your employer or your school. If you are in solo private practice with no one else to confirm them, I can do that within a one-to-one supervisory relationship, which means periodically reviewing your records so the confirmation rests on something real. I do not confirm direct client contact hours for Circle members, since a seasonal group does not give me that view of your practice.

If you are registered with the OCSWSSW, this works differently. There is no total to accumulate. The College treats ongoing clinical supervision as one of the essential elements of competence in performing the controlled act of psychotherapy, alongside education, experience, and continuing competence, and expects it to continue across a career, more intensively in the first years of practice. What we set up together is shaped around your practice rather than around a number.