My Clinical Supervision Approach

My approach to clinical supervision involves an initial phone consult to determine if your needs align with my skill set and style. There is no charge for this call. If a clinical supervision arrangement is established, consultation will consist of identifying your clinical question, followed by a brief summary of the client’s mental health status and social demographics. Specific client information remains confidential so that consultation can occur while respecting your client’s right to privacy. The consultation process involves questions of clarification and dialogue for the purpose of case conceptualization and formulation. Together, we will explore different interventions, including the application of clinical modalities, differential diagnosis, assessment strategies, treatment methods, and documentation.

Every counsellor has their own style, approach, and set of clinical modalities that resonates with them. It is important for me to honor your therapeutic approaches, as it would be counter productive to make recommendations that involve the application of clinical modalities or approaches that you don’t feel comfortable applying, as this will lead to the client feeling the same way. My clinical supervision approach is to respect and honor your clinical knowledge, style, and approach by highlighting your strengths and making recommendations that will work for you. The clinical supervision process should result in you feeling challenged, informed, and inspired to try new approaches, with insight as to how they could work, not feeling confused, incompetent, or in disagreement with the suggestions I offer.

A strong component of my clinical practice, including supervision, involves a critical awareness of the socio-economic, cultural, and systemic factors that influence mine and the client’s perception of a their mental health, and how this perception contributes to the delivery of counselling services, including it’s effectiveness. As a white, heterosexual male, my identity is very privileged. It is paramount that I be critically aware of this privileged identity and how it influences my role as a counsellor and clinical supervisor, especially when working with clients or supervisees who have a different identity. It is equally important for me to recognize and validate how the identity of the client and the supervisee shapes their perspective and experiences.

My rate for clinical supervision is $180 per consultation (60 minutes).

So What Makes for Good Clinical Supervision?

  • Humility: it’s impossible for any clinician to know everything there is to know about mental health. One could spend their entire career studying it and still have things to learn. A good characteristic of any clinical supervisor is to be humble in their approach, as having an ego gets in the way of learning.

  • Direction: clinical supervision should always start with a clinical question, even if that question is rather open-ended, such as “I feel stuck.” The job of the clinical supervisor is to help the counsellor gain insight by suggesting therapeutic opportunities that they weren’t able to find on their own. To do this, the supervisor should be direct in their attempt to really help the counsellor explore outcomes.

  • Discerning of Facts vs Judgements: clinical counselling involves the exploration of hypotheses that are based on a combination of objective facts and our subjective observations. It’s really important for the clinical supervisor to help the counsellor tease objectivity and subjectivity apart. We have to understand all the facts that are impacting our client’s mental health while being aware of our subjective interpretation of those facts.

  • Remain Dialectical: it is really important for the clinical supervisor to recognize that their perspective is that of an outside observer, which is different from that of the frontline counsellor. A good clinical supervisor is open to all perspectives and takes a dialectical stance by recognizing there are many ways to approach a problem or situation.

  • Validating & Empowering: clinical supervision should always result in the counsellor feeling validated and empowered to move forward with their client. There are no wrong questions in clinical supervision and no issue too small.

  • Collaboration: the relationship between the counsellor and clinical supervisor should be one of collaboration, where both parties try to answer the clinical question together. It’s not a process of the supervisor telling the counsellor what to do, but rather a process of discussion, suggestion, and planning.

  • Evidence Based: supervision should be based on assessment strategies, differential diagnosis, and clinical modalities that are proven to work effectively because they are supported by empirical research.

  • Know the Law: it’s really important to understand how legislation influences our practice as counsellors. A solid understanding of legislation can help counsellors determine what constitutes a child protection concern, what is required for client consent, what is or isn’t confidential, and what necessitates emergency mental health services.

  • Stay in Your Lane: a clinical supervisor should never give advice or make suggestions that falls outside their area of expertise. To do so can be unethical.

  • Confident & Calm: clinical dilemmas and problems are made more difficult to solve when the counsellor’s anxiety is high. As a clinical supervisor, it is imperative to be calm so that decisions are well thought out and informed. An anxious reaction causes unnecessary stress for the supervisee.

My Clinical Experience

  • Over 18 years of frontline clinical experience.

  • 5 years spent working with Child & Youth Mental Health (CYMH) services in Northern BC.

  • 3 years spent working with Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services.

  • 9 years spent working with Indigenous Child & Youth Mental Health (ICYMH) services.

  • Advanced training and experience related to Dialectical Behavioural Therapy.

  • Previously served as an acting team leader with CYMH & ICYMH.

  • Experience working in emergency mental health services related to assessment of risk and suitability for detainment under the Mental Health Act of BC.

  • Extensive experience working with clients of diversity, including race, religion, culture, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

    My Training Includes:

  • Advanced Dialectical Behavioural Therapy.

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

  • Brief Solution Focused Therapy

  • Emotion Focused Therapy & Emotion Focused Family Therapy.

Extensive experience related to assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of a wide range of mental health concerns:

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Substance Abuse & Dependence

  • ADHD

  • Grief & Loss

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

  • Parent/Teen Conflict

  • Behaviour Difficulties

  • Suicidality

  • Self-Harm

  • Dissociative Features

  • Low Self Esteem

  • Mood Disorders

  • Difficulties with Peers

  • Anger Management

  • Psychosis

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

  • Unexpected Life Changes

  • Neurodiversity

  • Borderline Personality Disorder (including traits)