Garrett Kennedy

I provide clinical supervision and career mentorship to both qualified practitioners and those in training, drawing on BPS-accredited supervision training (Levels 1-4) and 18 years of clinical experience across NHS, university, and independent practice settings. My supervision practice integrates the Hawkins and Shohet process model with attention to relational dynamics alongside evidence-based practical techniques, creating space where professional development occurs through the relationship.

Supervision Framework
The Hawkins and Shohet process model provides structure for examining multiple dimensions of clinical work: the client's material, the therapeutic relationship, the therapist's internal responses, the supervisory relationship itself, and the wider organisational and ethical contexts shaping practice. This framework ensures we attend systematically to what matters whilst remaining responsive to immediate practice concerns. In practice this results in us preventing supervision from becoming either purely technical problem-solving or unfocused reflective discussion, instead maintaining a purposeful direction on what actually serves your clinical development and client welfare.

My approach balances exploration of relational processes with practical skill development. This means we examine both what is happening between you and your clients and what techniques, interventions, or frameworks might address what you are facing, while also paying attention to mirroring dynamics playing out in our relationship. I work to establish conditions where uncertainty can be acknowledged and understood, where difficulties usually point the way to the most important learning point.

What Supervision Addresses
Supervision sessions attend to clinical material you bring, addressing formulation, intervention planning, risk assessment, ethical decision-making, and management of any complexities. We examine the therapeutic relationship, including parallel processes, countertransference responses, and relational patterns that either facilitate or obstruct clinical progress. Where appropriate, we explore how your own responses inform understanding of client dynamics.

The work addresses practical concerns directly. When you face clinical dilemmas about appropriate interventions, questions about managing risk, uncertainty about formulation, or difficulty navigating ethical complexities, we examine these using relevant frameworks and evidence whilst considering what your specific context requires. I draw on specialist knowledge in trauma-focused interventions (EMDR, trauma-focused CBT), autism assessment (ADOS-2, ADI-R), anxiety and depression presentations, attachment difficulties, and work with individuals navigating complex relational patterns.

For Trainees
If you are in training, supervision with me will support your development towards competent autonomous practice, including building foundational clinical skills, developing coherent theoretical frameworks, while establishing a sustainable professional identity. We attend to placement requirements, competency development, and preparation for professional registration alongside your immediate clinical concerns.

Trainee supervision recognises that learning clinical practice involves managing uncertainty whilst building confidence in your developing capabilities. The supervisory relationship I offer provides space where questions indicate engagement rather than inadequacy, where not knowing becomes the starting point for learning rather than evidence of unsuitability, and where mistakes are learned from. I affirm a learning mindset with every trainee I support: because the areas where we feel we make "mistakes" are usually where the best learning is, and are a core part of the therapeutic process itself. I work to create conditions where you can examine what actually occurred in sessions without defensive editing, bringing both successes and difficulties for reflection.

For Qualified Practitioners
If you are qualified, I support maintenance of ethical practice, continued professional development, and navigation of increasingly complex clinical presentations. This includes working with cases that challenge your existing skills, ensuring you feel contained and supported in your independent practice, and maintaining perspective.

I recognise that clinical development continues throughout our careers, and we are always learning. We examine your practice patterns, attend to professional wellbeing, and address emerging learning points.

Timings 
Sessions typically occur monthly, though frequency adapts to your requirements and stage of development. 

Professional Standards
My supervision practice maintains standards set by the Health and Care Professions Council and British Psychological Society. This includes confidentiality (with standard exceptions for risk and professional misconduct), working within competence boundaries, engaging in my own supervision and continuing professional development, and prioritising supervisee welfare and client safety. I maintain professional indemnity insurance and work in accordance with HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics.I have extensive experience supervising practitioners working within a BACP/UKCP/BABCP framework.

Values Shaping Supervision
Several principles guide my supervision practice. People matter: you bring your own context, capabilities, and constraints, and effective supervision respects what you already know whilst supporting development. The supervisory relationship provides containment for professional vulnerability, creating space where honest examination occurs without judgment. Creativity in supervision means adapting approaches to fit your learning needs rather than applying formulaic methods. The professional standards we draw from protect those we serve, functioning as frameworks supporting sustainable ethical practice.

These core values we share give us a foundation, and enable us to recognise that meaningful professional development emerges from psychological safety rather than performance pressure, from examining actual practice patterns rather than pursuing idealised versions of clinical work, and from relationships that make honest assessment possible.

Practical Arrangements
I offer supervision online, which provides flexibility whilst maintaining the consistency and structure that supervisory relationships require. This format extends access whilst supporting regular engagement regardless of geographical location. Sessions last 60-90 minutes depending on requirements.

Initial consultation determines whether my supervision approach aligns with your needs. We discuss what you are seeking from supervision, examine my areas of expertise and limitations, and establish whether working together serves your professional development. 

If you are considering supervision and want to determine whether my approach fits your professional development needs, an initial consultation provides space to discuss what you are facing and whether my supervision framework supports your requirements. You do not need to have supervision questions fully formulated before connecting with me. The consultation itself provides opportunity to examine what supervision might address. 

I look forward to working with you. 

-Garrett