What is professional supervision?
In a nutshell, professional supervision is a continuing relationship between practitioners in the same profession, whereby an experienced practitioner provides support for a counterpart’s professional practice. The supervisor is usually – but not always – a more senior practitioner. The supervisee may be a novice, early career or experienced practitioner.
Purpose
The purpose of the supervising relationship may be to:
- Facilitate regular, structured reflection on the supervisee’s work with their clients, to uncover ‘blind spots and explore the potential for unconscious bias’.1
- Debrief in a safe and confidential space while maintaining clear professional boundaries.
- Identify areas for development and growth in professional practice.
- Provide training in interpersonal skills or in a specific methodology.
History
Supervision has its roots in clinical practice, specifically in social work, psychiatry, psychology and counselling, where it is known as ‘clinical supervision’. In these and other health-related disciplines like nursing, clinical supervision is primarily focused on improving performance in clinical practice.
Professional supervision emerged in the coaching and mentoring professions in the early 2000s to support the coaching/mentoring relationship and to extend its benefits beyond the immediate setting.
Supervision is a place for the coach or mentor with the help of a trained supervisor to engage in reflective practice, develop their capacity to respond more deeply and effectively and increase the difference they can make in the world for their clients and their stakeholders.
Support for writers and editors
Professional supervision for writers and editors is a very new idea. In fact, apart from myself, I don’t know of anyone, anywhere in the world, who provides this service for writers and editors. (I would be very pleased to hear from anyone else who undertakes this kind of work.)
The aim of professional supervision in this context is to support the writer/editor in reflecting on their work and their professional practice, to help them see these through a different perspective, and from this to develop an awareness of themselves and their ability to serve their clients.
Writing and editing are professions with a great deal in common. Both are intensely solitary, and emotionally and creatively demanding.
In fact, writers and editors are close allies in publishing success. Some writers, particularly novice writers, may not believe their work needs editing but as they gain experience they often learn the value of working with an editor. Many editors focus on the ‘nuts and bolts’ of copyediting, and underestimate the value they can bring to the editorial relationship, to the manuscript in question and to the development and future career of the author.
A great many successful writers have written about the value, the joys and the agonies of working with an editor, as recently explored in a Paris Review essay by the Norwegian serial autobiographer Karl Ove Knausgaard.
What does professional supervision cover?
Professional supervision can be characterised in three ways:
- Normative/ethical – to ensure that the supervisee is conducting themselves ethically within the regulations and codes of conduct that govern their profession
- Formative/developmental – to ensure that the supervisee is able to learn from their experiences and develop the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to improve their professional practice and as well as their business
- Restorative/resourcing – to provide the supervisee with confidential support and a ‘listening ear’, to help the supervisee clarify personal and professional boundaries, and to help them increase their self-confidence and professional confidence.1,2
My own practice in conducting professional supervision with writers and editors incorporates all aspects of professional practice, including training and skills development; continuing professional development, management and leadership; professional and ethical conduct; scholarship and engagement in the field; and managing imposter syndrome, stress and burnout.
Sessions are tailored to meet individual and group needs, and the topics covered tend to evolve over time. The individual or group may start out eager to deal with immediate and acute issues, but the true value of supervision emerges over time through deep reflection and reflexive practice. The relationship requires a deep trust and commitment from both the supervisor and the supervisee/s.
How is it different from counselling or mentoring?
There are different types of counselling – such as couple’s counselling, career counselling and mental health counselling – which use talking therapies to help people deal with emotional issues. The focus is on improving the person’s mental health and relationships.
Mentoring involves a relationship – paid or unpaid, short-term or ongoing – between a mentor and mentee, in which the mentor provides support for the mentee’s personal or professional development, through guidance and the sharing of knowledge.
Professional supervision is a partnership in which the supervisor and supervisee work together to develop strategies for the supervisee to improve their professional practice. It is a learning-oriented process – which is why it may sometimes deal with personal issues – but it does not seek to ‘treat’ those issues. It is also a learner-oriented process, in that it is driven by the learner (supervisee), and success relies on their commitment to change in their behaviour or thinking.
Which is best: individual or group supervision?
To date, most (but not all) of my work as a professional supervisor has been with individual writers and editors who work with sensitive or disturbing content.
The tendency towards individualised sessions is often because these writers/editors have non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in place with their clients and necessarily want to avoid breaching those contracts. Or because the nature of their work is so sensitive or involves such disturbing content that it would be unwise to expose others to it.
But many writers and editors find enormous comfort, support and inspiration from professional supervision in a small group – usually three to five people. Any group of people can decide to get together to discuss problems, but without a trained and experienced facilitator these groups soon fizzle out or turn into a ‘whinge-fest’ and provide little in the way of development and improved practice.
In a facilitated group setting I work to carefully guide people in sharing their experiences, workshopping ideas and learning together. The learning experience can be profound, and enduring friendships or professional partnerships are often developed in the process.
Participants in these groups often talk about the sense of relief in finding that they are not alone. Even though their challenges and struggles may be unique to their situation, they get tremendous value through the interaction with like-minded colleagues – who are sometimes located in different countries and cultures.
When should you think about getting professional supervision?
Since professional supervision is focused on learning and improvement, you don’t have to wait until you encounter a major problem or challenge. You may wish to work proactively with a professional supervisor to:
- analyse your client base and uncover strategies to build trust or better communication;
- explore past projects or working relationships to better understand the dynamics within your own style of working or communication;
- hypothesise tricky situations and how you might ensure you maintain ethical and professional standards
- explore ideas and possibilities for future work or career directions.1
Most writers and editors work in isolation, so professional supervision offers the opportunity to reflect on the past and plan for the future – in your profession as well as your business.
Who benefits from professional supervision?
It may seem obvious that the supervisee is the major beneficiary of a professional supervision relationship.
However, ultimately the client benefits from working with a writer or editor who is resilient, has honed their craft through deeply reflective and reflexive practices, and has developed the confidence needed to support a manuscript or author towards success.
Where to from here?
Professional supervision is a very new area of practice that no doubt will develop and evolve over time. Finding someone with the appropriate knowledge, experience and expertise may be tricky while there isn’t a formal body of research and education to develop professional supervisors for writers and editors but it’s worthwhile doing your homework to find the right professional to support you.
My own practice is informed by my formal training as a Level 2 coach; professional supervision by a high-level coach with decades of experience; engagement with international research and practice; continuing professional development; experience in working directly with client supervisees (individually and in groups); and through a deep commitment to excellence and lifelong learning.
You’re welcome to call or email me for a description of my professional supervision and coaching services, or to arrange a brief chat to discuss how we might work together.
References
- Clutterbuck, D., Whitaker, C. & Lucas M. (2016) Coaching Supervision: A practical guide for supervisees. Routledge.
- Proctor, B. (1986) A cooperative exercise in accountability. In A. Marken and M Payne (eds), Enabling and Ensuring: Supervision in practice. Leicester National Youth Bureau. As cited in Rowe, A., Mackaway, J. & Winchester-Seeto, T. (2012) ‘But I thought you were doing that’: Clarifying the role of the host supervisor in experienced-based learning, Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 13(2), 115–34.
