Dr John Ashfield

My experience as a supervisor encompasses the broad fields of psychotherapy and mental health, with additional specialisms of palliative care, psycho-oncology, bereavement, male psychology, and relationships.

PhD MCS BSS BA BPTh Grad Dip GW Ass Dip SW

Making supervision worthwhile:
Whether a student, or a professional in the workplace (or private practice), supervision can be used not just to meet institutional or membership requirements, but even more importantly as a source of support, ongoing learning, and a way of infusing one’s efforts with energy and enthusiasm.

There are various models of supervision commonly used with psychotherapists and mental health practitioners, but these are sometimes used too prescriptively and prove to frustrate rather than promote the most important elements of supervision.

Ideally, the experience of supervision should include:

• Being listened to, understood, supported, and accompanied in one’s practice.
• Having opportunity to review and analyse key aspects of one’s work, and to ask important questions.
• Having opportunity to discuss successes and failures objectively and constructively.
• Being exposed to new and different perspectives, and sometimes to be gently challenged.
• Opportunity to raise ethical or moral dilemmas, with the aim of endeavouring to arrive at an agreeable and acceptable position.

Whilst the supervisor must bring experience and knowledge to supervision, sessions are best viewed as a collaborative endeavour, one in which the person receiving supervision does some preparation for sessions and tries to be clear about what they need to gain from them. Of course, needs and circumstances might change, as can the course and approach to supervision. See: https://drjohnashfield.com/services/student-and-professional-supervision/