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

Supervision: the much-needed anchor in a sea of turmoil

I have had an interesting history… I originally trained as a Physiotherapist. Not long after graduating I suffered a major Stroke which left me with significant physical impairments, one of which was that I lost the use of my vision. For me this ended my career as a physio and put me on a long … Read more

External Supervision – Just Do It!

For the last 3 years I have been supervised externally by someone not in my profession. I hadn’t thought anything of how this may differ from previous supervision at the time of seeking it – I was more interested in receiving supervision from someone independent from my workplace, their profession didn’t really come in to … Read more

The need for mirroring

A second lockdown… I wanted to write this during the first, but it was just too hard and overwhelming. It was busier, weightier and harder than it has ever been. It has also been extremely rewarding. Gratitude has been an ongoing thread and theme of this pandemic, for some, if they have had capacity to … 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

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

Exploring an alternative approach to support

I have been fortunate to have access to strong supervision throughout the majority of my speech and language therapy life. Reflecting on my supervision journey the high points have been when I have had a solid relationship with my supervisor; when the supervisor has been someone I have trusted and respected, and whom I have … Read more

Successful transition from paid work to retirement

Today, I am a 68-year-old retired Speech and Language Therapist, enjoying a fulfilling life encompassing a number of roles: wife, mother, grandmother, artist and volunteer in two groups for stroke survivors with communication impairment. Six years ago I was struggling with the concept of retiring from a hectic Band 8 SLT post in a large … 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