Don’t Panic - Plan
I wonder how your second week of online practice has been? NCS Registrant Suzie Mosson, a director of Online Training for Counsellors, has some expert advice for practitioners making this move. Whethe...
Supervision is vital to the practice of counsellors and is a requirement for those who are on the Accredited Register.
Supervision is a valuable way of "checking in" with a more experienced practitioner thus supporting and ensuring counsellors stay grounded, maintain professional and ethical boundaries, develop their knowledge, both theoretically and practically, as well as focus on self-care to avoid "burnout". Supervision is fundamental to the provision of safe, ethical and competent counselling.
It is advised that a supervisor should be experienced in the type of work being carried out by the supervisee (e.g. working with Children & Young People or Complex trauma etc.)
As a guideline the NCS recommend 1.5 hours of supervision per month for counsellors who are in full time practice. That said, a counsellor’s level of experience and/or they type of work/client group they are engaging with may affect how much supervision is required. The number of hours and frequency of supervision should be discussed and agreed directly with the supervisor.
Concerns about any aspect of the counselling work being carried out should be brought to supervision where further advice can be sought. Supervisors should also provide clear guidelines to their supervisees as to what actions should to be taken in times of crisis, emergency or when the supervisor are not able to be contacted.
It is advisable that an up-to-date record of supervision hours is kept as evidence of such may be required during an audit, when applying for an upgrade of NCS registrant level or when applying for counselling placements/jobs.
Further Supervision guidance can be found within the NCS Code of Ethics via the following link: https://www.nationalcounsellingsociety.org/about-us/code-of-ethics.
If you are already an NCS member, further information can be found in the members area at: https://www.nationalcounsellingsociety.org/members/registrant-members/being-on-the-register/supervision.
If you are looking for a supervisor, the NCS list qualified supervisors via the Counselling Directory - (Refine search – Options – Show only Supervisors).
The NCS also have a directory of qualified supervisors who offer reduced fees for supervision for NCS student members. These supervisors can be found via Counselling Directory - (Refine search – Options – Show only Supervisors - Reduced fees for trainee counsellors)
