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Over the last couple of supervisions I have carried out, with a wide range of occupational therapists from regional directors to students, I have had some valuable insights from them about the real added value for OTs of external supervision. Because I am independent of the organisation, we can identify the direction that you want to go, without an agenda that a manager or colleague would have. We can explore your resilience to carry out your plans or goals, again without the needs of the organisation overshadowing your personal and professional development.
The reason for this is that I don't come with an agenda, I don't live in your world. I am completely neutral in exploring your world with you, from your perspective. Supervision provides a safe, confidential space to unburden yourself of all the worries and challenges of the month. It all goes on the table in front of us. You prioritise the things it would be most useful to pick up, examine, identify the value of, and work out if it's worth prioritising to talk about. You set the agenda. I am not your line manager or someone you work with everyday. We don't go outside the room and revert back to our roles and get on with the day job. Because I am not part of the organisation, your action plan doesn't have to fit in with the 'Strategic Plan'. Occupational Therapists I work with tell me that the freedom that brings is incredible, it's different from any supervision they have had before.
Imagine having an hour or two that is totally dedicated to you, your priorities, your personal and professional development?
Working as a health care professional these days is a high pressured demanding job. It needs some decompression time. Take a moment to think about how are you achieving that for yourself? Do you need a bit of time dedicated to enhancing your personal and professional development?
Think about how you relax, how you keep your occupational balance? Could external supervision be part of that for you? Have you read my testimonials? Everyone uses the sessions differently, everyone feel in a better place after the sessions. Imagine if you had external supervision. Tell me what difference could it make to you?
I would love to hear from you.
Margaret Spencer
margaret@ot360.co.uk
Supervision is so important - good supervision, though, is not always easy to find! I get external supervision, but have found it difficult in the past to find someone willing and able to provide that support in my field/areas of interest. I've also had difficulty in terms of gaining support for recognising these external arrangements from my workplace discipline seniors/managers. This is complex, and it's getting resolved now. I recommend people advocate for there needs, and have formal supervision arrangements with a written agreement in place, whether internal or external, to make the process as secure and robust as possible. And have those conversations at the start to see if you're the best 'fit' together - what are your goals…