‘The Golden Question’. Addressing supervisee self‐care in clinical supervision

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore how supervisee self-care is,or is not, addressed in the clinical supervision of counsellors and psychotherapists. The aims of the study were as follows: (1) to analyse the process and dialogue used to address supervisee self-care in clinical supervision; (2) to explore supervisee and supervisor experiences and understanding of how self-care is addressed in clinical supervision; and (3) to investigate how addressing supervisee self-care can be enhanced or maintained and how this can be implemented into training and practice.

Method: Four established supervision dyads with experienced practitioners took part. Twelve supervision sessions were analysed using a discursive psychology approach to Discourse Analysis. Participants were then interviewed; the data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
Results: The findings from the discourse analysis demonstrate how discourse can enhance or limit addressing self-care. The findings from the analysis of the supervisor interviews resulted in the following superordinate themes: ‘I am here’, ‘Where are you?’, and ‘We're the instruments’. The findings from the supervisee interviews resulted in two superordinate themes: ‘Me, myself and I' and ‘You and I'.

Conclusions: There is an interplay between the experience of the supervisor and supervisee and the dialogue used to address self-care in clinical supervision. The implications for practice and training are discussed via ‘The Golden Question’ that encapsulates the findings.