The safe space to revitalise my practice

I have been a qualified British Sign Language/English interpreter since 2008 – however, since professional supervision is not mandatory within interpreting, it was some time into my career before I came across it. When I did embark on a supervisory relationship, the value of my monthly sessions became apparent very quickly, and this led me … Read more

Seeing the world through a different lens – working creatively

I am a British Sign Language/English Interpreter who has been offering Professional Supervision since gaining a Diploma in Supervision in 2016. In August 2021, a tweet by @_intandem, describing an Advanced Programme of supervision workshops, caught my eye. I was keen to develop my creative practice and here was intandem offering a day’s training focussing … Read more

Reflections on a 1-day commissioned team supervision training

‘Training into Practice – Successful Supervision Re-structure The intandem ‘Are you getting enough (1)?’ training inspired and informed a reorganisation of our supervision structure. Before the training, we struggled to get a consistent approach to supervision in our small community paediatric speech and language therapy team.  Those that had team leads as supervisors, may also … Read more

Supervision: An opportunity to explore the links between uncertainties, learning and safe practice

When training as a speech therapist (the title at that time), I loved my practice placements and when, in due course, I began my career, it was with youthful confidence and perhaps a little arrogance.  I might not have been paying attention, but I don’t recall supervision or reflective practice featuring in my university lectures … Read more

Using questions effectively in supervision

The motivation for writing this post was my experience around asking questions as a supervisor.  I set out to understand what might be happening when a supervisee stated ‘Now, that is a really good question?’  Were they buying time to work out ‘the answer’ or had the question genuinely opened up the conversation for fruitful … Read more

One supervision journey

For many years supervision was largely an unrewarding and functional experience for me. Initially, the focus felt skills driven, such as meeting standards and competencies. As I progressed, it became almost all about management expectations with little space to develop my personal and professional skills. There was little consistency to build a trusting relationship with … Read more

The importance of supervision

Supervision can be provided in a variety of formats and styles and can include not only professional and clinical supervision, but also managerial supervision. As a clinician progresses through their career there is often a move away from clinical supervision into more managerial supervision. The emphasis here may be on setting priorities and objectives in line … Read more

Stepping back to step back in

Supervision. A word that used to fill me with confusion and at times anxiety. What do I say?  How do I react? What are they thinking?  Am I saying the wrong thing? Is this topic supervision-worthy? These were just some of the thoughts that used to swim around in my mind before and after the … Read more

Understanding Supervision and the Importance of Self-Care

As the end of our MSc Speech and Language Sciences course at UCL was fast approaching, and many people were starting to realise that we will all soon have to face reality again, Cathy and Sam’s visit was a welcome reminder of the importance of self-care in our future profession. As a student on placement, … Read more

Living with a Communication Disability: Insider Accounts

Throughout our MSc in Speech and Language Sciences at UCL we have been trained to use active listening. It’s a key clinical skill. As trainee SLTs we listen when we collaborate with clients to take case histories. But these are often about a snapshot in time. What happens when clients complete assessment and intervention? How … Read more