Mel Bates

I provide supervision for therapists, counsellors, arts and play therapists and people working in the helping professions.  I use creative methods as well as talking to explore issues in supervision. I work with a psychodynamic approach, looking at what is present for the client and therapist both consciously and unconsciously. I draw on systemic thinking, being aware of patterns of relationships, the wider context and cultural and social influences.  With the client work as focus, a supervision session may include deepening understanding of the material through looking at the content of the session, the transference relationship, the counter-transference experienced, the interventions, the organisational context of the work, parallel processes and the dynamics of the supervisory relationship.   Creative methods, such as sculpting with objects, drawing, movement, role-play and using visual images, may be used to explore the therapy work.  This can be a helpful way of working to develop different insights, hypotheses and learning.I provide both individual and group supervision and am a qualified Creative Arts Therapy Supervisor (2005).  I work in private practice and as a freelance supervisor. My therapy experience includes working with adults and children with learning disabilities and who are on the autistic spectrum, families and children affected by substance misuse and/or domestic abuse, children and adults with sexual abuse and trauma in their history, bereavement, working with staff teams, education, adult and child mental health, older people and working as an outdoor dramatherapist, using dramatherapy in nature.