How to find a supervisor

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
Finding out if needs, experience, and goals align. As supervisors we all work a little differently, as supervisees, we are all different. This means finding the best fit or right combination might feel like a never ending task - but it doesn't need to. Thinking and reflecting on ourselves and putting this with what we might already know we are looking for, can be an excellent place to start. Communicating this to a potential supervisor can be a great time saver and allow everyone to make effective use of time. Think about your own professional background What is your current Role?Are you a trainee, newly qualified, an experienced practitioner, a supervisor, manager or consultant? What are your credentials, qualifications, Professional Body and supervision arrangements: Are you a member of the BACP, UKCP, NCPS etc. What is your level of training, what particular qualifications do you hold or are you working towards? What are your own achievements and background? What are your current supervision arrangements and how might...
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Reflection and journals

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
Today's addition to my journal :A piece by Mother TeresaAn albanian- Indian nun1910-1997 I often journal my thoughts, reflections or things I've read that have resonated with me. Today it is this.So, in short ... Forgive anywayBe kind anywaySucceed anywayBe honest and frank anywayBuild anywayBe happy anywayDo good anywayGive the world the best you've got anywayIt was never between you and them anyway. The photo is of my journal where I've written this out in full. (Complete with an error!) Reflecting is an important part of being a therapist and supervisor. Inspiration, ideas, thought process, drawings and doodles, wise words from another, realisations, fears, achievements and more can all be recorded or perhaps unpacked in journals. Free writing or free scribbles can unlock, reveal or remind us of so much. Reading back through our journals we can often follow our journey, see our progress, recognise themes or be simply reminded of things we'd forgotten.Sometimes this can help us prepare for supervision or support our own therapy. The...
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Sometimes only a swear word will do

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
If you're wondering what it would be like to hear me say such a thing, just try saying it in a Geordie accent  As a fellow therapist said to me quite some time ago when we were discussing congruence, and ethics of authenticity and genuineness - "Sometimes only a swear word will do!" Be authentic In therapy and supervision I invite those I work with and support to be their authentic self. In turn, I offer my authentic self too. That means, if you swear that's ok with me.If you don't swear, that's ok with me.If you use wild hand gestures that's ok with me.If you express yourself in contemporary dance or song that's ok with me.If you want to show me your pet that's ok with me.If you struggle to find words that's ok with me.If you feel really emotional that's ok with me.If you want to draw or write what's in your thoughts that's ok with me.If you want to scream that's...
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Where were you on 9/11?

by Lisa HarrisNo Comments
At times in our lives time stands still. It literally stops. Shock and trauma do that. We can then sit speechless unable to connect to a thought, any thought. Sometimes those moments are unique to us and are a personal experience - sometimes thousands of us share those moments. I've had those personal moments in my life. I also shared hours of moments with milions of others on 9/11. I wasn't there, I was at home, watching it unfold on TV. I watched open mouthed as the news unfolded and I watched live as the second plane hit, as the towers fell, as news of further hijackings and the Pentagon crash came in. I still remember the feelings I experienced that day, and why. I feel them now as I write this, much much less intensely, but my body remembers what happened inside of me that day. I'm writing this today so many years later with much compassion, in remembrance of and with repect...
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