Mrs Gail Evans
Member Status: Accredited
Member No: NCS14-00701
Location: Sheffield
I have been in practice for many years in a variety of settings. I am a relationship counsellor and psychosexual therapist and also work with individuals on general issues and trauma-related problems. I have specialist training in trauma treatments (EMDR, Lifespan Integration). I am also a trained and experienced clinical supervisor. In a former life I was a therapeutic social worker with children and families. I am Programme Director at The Academy: SPACE, which I founded on leaving my post as Head of the Counselling Studies Unit at Sheffield Hallam University. Ethical principles and practice are very important to me and although I earn a living in the therapy world I regard it as a vocation.
Prospective Supervisees: Finding a supervisor, like finding the right therapist, is not always straightforward but is very important to get right so that it supports the work, your well-being, development and safety as a practitioner. Feedback from trainees and qualified counsellors tells me I am supportive, encouraging, stretching and collaborative. I remember how it feels to fear the judgement of a supervisor and I aim to be a warm 'critical friend', offering ideas and knowledge at times but not expecting that you will necessarily use them because you are the one in the room with your client, with your unique style and strengths and clinical judgment. As with therapy I believe the relationship is important, attention needs to be paid to that and being open to feedback is crucial, in both directions, if we are going to offer our best.
My theoretical orientation is relational and I believe in pluralism (that some approaches may suit some clients better that others). I use Petruska Clarkson's model of 5 types of relationship as a framework; very influenced by person-centred principles and theory but also finding ideas about unconscious processes very helpful to understand some of the odd or difficult experiences that can happen in therapy and supervision. Hawkins and Shohet's model of supervision is also a helpful framework. I believe it is important to explore the part you and your history or circumstances play in the work, but always with one eye on the relevance to the client work.
I have training and experience of a range of interventions that could be useful to advance the work with clients.
I can offer supervision via Zoom (but prefer to meet you in person to start with) and also outdoor (walking) weather permitting.
