Supervision

Supervision Philosophy 

I am in private practice as a solo practitioner and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in the role as supervisor to psychology students and provisional psychologists. Because of my 20 years in teaching and administration, I started my journey to support those entering their professional careers about 15 years ago; first in teaching and now in counselling and psychological assessment. I have taken many leadership courses through the years including those specific to supervising Master’s students and provisional psychologists. I am an assessment specialist and counsellor who mostly serves children and their families and some adults in my small rural practice. I have specific interest and experience working with neurodiverse individuals including those with Autism. I am client centered and tend to lean heavily on cognitive behavioural and dialectic models in my counselling practice.  I remain a teacher at heart who loves learning with others who are coming into the profession from diverse backgrounds, cultures, age groups, abilities, experiences and orientations. I firmly believe that all individuals have strengths and weaknesses; biases and gifts and individual differences can be celebrated in order to empower all new professionals on his/her/their professional identity quest. 

Because I am bound by the Code of Ethics for Psychologists, the guidelines of the College of Alberta Psychologists, and the rules of your institution, I am required to protect, you, your clients and the profession; therefore, there are times when judgement and evaluation will be more evident during our time together; however, I will always be working with you to remediate any actions that approach or cross the line. I also welcome your evaluation of me as your supervisor, so I can grow in my skills to lead and serve others to the best of my abilities. 

I also understand the importance of vulnerability.  In order to be vulnerable, we must develop relational safety where we can practice critical thinking in a caring, relational environment.I believe in sharing my experiences (both good and bad) and the knowledge I have gained. I will actively listen with non-judgement as we work through your experiences (both good and bad) in our time together.  My goal is for us to become trusted colleagues and to develop a reciprocal relationship through deliberate, intentional practice; planning, observation, feedback, discussion, rehearsal and evaluation in order to learn to enhance our profession and to serve our clients to the best of our abilities. Because our time is valuable, my goal is to ensure that our supervision time is spent on the achievement of your goals and I will adjust to your needs in what I hope to be an intentional, creative, flexible, caring and meaningful supportive relationship. Please know that as my supervisee, I work for you and sincerely want you to succeed.