Faith Stafford

Supervision provides a nice balance within my practice, offering a more collegial relationship than therapy. I enjoy working with practitioners from trainees to experienced, old hands in the game. Having trained counsellors within the university sector for many years, I value establishing good, solid foundations that underpin practice, through to wrestling with the more challenging dilemmas one meets in established settings. Working as a governor of BACP for nine years gave me an appreciation of the world in which we work, the ambitions of therapists within that world, the diverse settings in which we work and the sometimes huge challenges facing us as a profession: such as regulation. I had the privilege to work with the board piloting registration, which felt like a first step towards self regulation.

My PhD research focused on the impact of successful therapy, exploring the role of the hero and scapegoat archetypes. This gave me a deep appreciation of the work that therapists do and the long-term benefits this work has for clients. My supervision training includes 18 years working for Relate, where the last 8-9 years I served as a supervisor. I undertook training with Peter Hawkins in the seven-eyed model and completed an MSc in Counselling, Supervision and Training at Bristol University.

I have enjoyed the challenge of providing supervision for other professions such as nurses and senior practice supervisors within Social Services. It is amazingly freeing to work with those who are the experts in their field of practice, so that the lines between supervision and line management are clearly drawn. This breadth of experience and training is something I bring to my supervision practice. I also run a multicultural counselling service, Ubuntu Devon, serving ethnic minority communities in Devon. This was set up in 2010 and I have developed a multicultural counselling model for the service.

I provide both on-line and in-person supervision for individuals and groups. The length of sessions depends on the needs of supervisees. They are usually either one hour or one and a half hours, working to BACP requirements. I have co-supervision with an experienced colleague where we meet for two hours each month, dividing the time between us. In addition I meet monthly for an hour with a senior practitioner. Although more than the BACP requirement, this gives me a breadth of experience including: supervision on the setting up and running of therapeutic services, group work, organisational oversight, multicultural therapy, individual and couples therapy and a range of therapeutic and coaching models.

Having an understanding of the setting in which therapists work as well as of their model of counselling and their training, is a useful starting place for our work together. While the seven-eyed model offers a creative approach to supervision, I find the 'nuts and bolts' of supervision advocated by Proctor and Inskipp (1993) invaluable. It provides an excellent starting point for setting up a supervisory relationship. I also like their 'tasks of supervision' - Education/Support/Professional Development, a useful reminder of what supervision is about.

Supervisors are among the gatekeepers to the profession. However, the task of supporting the therapist to give the best possible service to clients, is the primary focus of the role. The benefits of the collegial relationship are that we (supervisor and counsellor) work together to provide the service to clients. Remaining curious in our work, ensures that we take time to allow unconscious material to emerge. It is the supervisor's role to hold open that space in which exploration can take place. Of course, there are times when decisive action needs to be taken, e.g. when safeguarding issues arise and where the supervisor needs to model the approach that the therapist needs to take.

Supervision has much to offer.

The first session in supervision is where we would negotiate our contract, agreeing: length and frequency of meetings; payment; contact; confidentiality; case presentation; record keeping; mutual expectations of supervision; etc. It is when the business side of things is sorted out. There should also be an understanding that these issues can be revisited should any aspect be found to be unhelpful - or just not working - for either party. Negotiations in a group will be somewhat different as there are more voices to be heard and more perspectives to be taken into account. It is often the case that expectations of the organisation in which the counsellor works need to be taken into account. For example, some organisations merely want to know about attendance whereas others may want written reports. This makes it important to have a clear understanding about confidentiality. Training institutions often want quite detailed reports and it is essential that all involved understand the limits of confidentiality.

It is important that record keeping is addressed in some detail. Because clients - and even courts - can request sight of notes, what is recorded and how this is stored is significant. I normally advise brief, factual notes. Although I do not request client notes as a matter of course, I will look at notes where supervisees request this. I will also look at videos of practice where this is helpful. Normally, I am available for emergency contact outside sessions.

A large part of what is going on in the first session is establishing our relationship and, in a group, establishing the group relationships. It is about how we will work together and what we expect to get from supervision. It is good to be able to go on to address some case work so that we can have a sense of putting our agreement into action. I keep brief notes of supervision as an aide memoire. They are also an important record should any queries arise at a later date.

My normal working hours are 9am to 6pm, Monday to Thursday. I currently have availability within my practice.

I offer both short-term counselling and long-term psychotherapy. The focus of work is agreed with the client and is regularly reviewed to ensure that we are working on those issues most relevant to the client(s). My orientation is humanistic integrative, incorporating: person-centred, psychodynamic, systemic, cognitive/behavioural, NLP, solution-focused, transpersonal, existential, narrative and transactional analysis approaches. I work with couples, individuals and groups.  I am a BACP senior accredited counsellor and psychotherapist and abide by BACP ethical framework for good practice. 

My work is also influenced by the 18 years I spent working for Relate as counsellor and supervisor. In addition, I have an MSc in Counselling, Supervision and Training from Bristol University. My PhD, from the University of Exeter, focused on the impact of successful counselling, looking in particular at the role of the Hero and Scapegoat archetypes. My understanding is that successful counselling puts people back in touch with their own 'can do' selves. I use my skills, training and experience in the service of my clients. Each client is unique and so, which skills I use and how is dependent on what each client needs.  I am also aware that, after so many years of practice, my model of therapy is also going to be unique to my practice. At the same time, I see it as essential for the safety of myself and my clients, that my practice should remain within professional and legal guidelines.  

I have developed a model of multicultural counselling which is used by Ubuntu Devon, the multicultural counselling service which I run.

I offer both face-to-face and online sessions. Face-to-face therapy takes place in my private counselling room.  For online therapy, clients need to have a private space, with WiFi, where they can be uninterrupted for the session. For couple work and working with trauma, I prefer face-to-face sessions, as I think these work better in such situations.

I keep brief notes of each session, to act as an aide-memoire. These notes are kept in a locked cabinet and are destroyed after six years. Outcome measures such as GAD7 or PHQ9 can be helpful in tracking the progress of counselling for both clients and myself. However, I would normally use such measures around every fourth session rather than every session, as they can feel a bit intrusive or 'formulaic' to some clients. When used, they can be a useful way of monitoring just what has changed - or not changed - and why. They can be a useful indicator of any 'risk factors' that may need attention.

I have regular monthly supervision with two different senior colleagues.  Although this exceeds  BACP requirements, I find it helpful to have this level of expertise available to me.  It ensures that I have the breadth of support to cover relationships, trauma, in-depth psychotherapy, brief therapy, organisational work and an extensive experience across both private and statutory services.

The first session is a business meeting to assess client needs and compare these with what counselling can offer. It is an opportunity for the client to ask any questions they may want about counselling, or the way I work; and an opportunity for me to gain an understanding of what the client is looking for from therapy. Hopefully, by the end of the session, we will have formed an impression of what it would be like to work together. Issues like our mutual availability, and being clear about expectations on both sides, ensure that management of the sessions runs smoothly. We will also agree payment of fees and how this will happen. Matters such as the 24 hours notice needed for cancellation of sessions, to avoid a charge being made, are also dealt with. Discretion will be exercised in the case of unavoidable events, such as sudden illness. Clients will be given as much notice as possible about dates when I may be unavailable. It is important that clients are made aware of the limits of confidentiality as early as possible within this first session.  Sessions are normally once a week for between 50 minutes and one hour. However, I do cater for those who may work shifts or irregular hours, as far as possible. The 'business' of the first session sets out the contract between myself and the client(s).