The Art of Supervision

If you have been on the receiving end of poor clinical supervision, your gut will have told you and and equally, once you find a supervisor who understands you and your practice, you cannot fail to see how their input helps to shape the therapist you are becoming (and the truth is, we are always becoming in this line of work!)

This makes the fact that so many therapists report poor experiences of clinical supervision alarming — and so if you are currently thinking about choosing a supervisor, changing supervisor or even training to become a supervisor yourself, take a moment to go back to basics and refresh your own understanding of the support good supervision offers.

3. Restorative: This is the support you can’t get anywhere else. Your supervisor should provide emotional and psychological support to help you build resilience and cope with the stresses of a demanding client practice, making sure your don’t burnout trying to meet all those demands.

The late American psychoanalyst, Anne Alonso, believed she learned as much from her supervisees as they learned from her, and when she set up The Center for Psychoanalytic Studies at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of her many innovations was having first-year fellows learn how to supervise. 

Here’s what she had to say (verbatim) about the role of supervision:

Supervision is not quite teaching, but not quite therapy ... the supervisor acts in the capacity of a mentor — trusted friend and counsellor — teaching a baseline of theoretical knowledge, guiding the practice of techniques wherein theory is applied, and supporting the young clinician in the development of empathy, and in the capacity to bear ambiguity and intense, often frightening material of the therapeutic process.

The mentor acts as a model, sharing attitudes, experiences, perspective, moral, ethical, and practical dimensions ... the supervisor guides the trainee without overprotecting or controlling ... encourages moderate levels of risk-taking and creativity, but in the safe context of stable amounts of basic security for all parties to the interaction.

Security is achieved by continued attention to the internal and external stresses on the trainee, and by the clear availability of the supervisor as an empathic counsellor in all aspects of the work.

This month (May 2026) The Pilamaya Centre in conjunction with The Minded Institute is running a supervisory training with a focus on a somatic and integrative approach to clinical supervision.

This course only runs every two years and there are still a few places left if you meet the entry criteria which includes having been in practice for two years.

This CPD training has been developed by Pilamaya founder, Shaura Hall, who will review your application so we asked her what she looks for in applicants.

Here’s what she had to say:

“I’m looking for applicants to have a strong clinical practice, to be able to be reflective on their own practice, and to have been in supervision and preferably therapy too for two years themselves. So the qualities are really around being in active roles supporting others or looking to step into supporting others.”

This 50-hour online training this year runs over seven days split across two modules and two months:

May 29, 30 &31 and July 1, 2, 3 &4.

It generates 50 CPD credits and costs £1,200, with payment plans offered to help spread the cost if you are accepted for the training.

All the course information that you need here: Train as a Supervisor

Pilmaya is committed to offering Continued Professional Development (CPD) trainings for alumni (and others) and we’ve explored in previous newsletters how this is a mandatory requirement in order for Integration Psychotherapy practitioners to keep membership of their accreditation and governing body, the National Council of Integrative Psychotherapists (NCIP)

A quick reminder then that one of those upcoming trainings next month — and this one is open to both IP graduates and other practitioners — is the two-day online course about the multidimensional framework that underpins all of Pilamaya’s professional trainings.

You can now hear your Pilamaya podcast hosts, Shaura and Susan talking about this unique psychotherapeutic framework in episode three of the new Pilamaya Podcast which is now live on Spotify and other major podcast platforms.

The Nine Dimensions offers a unique and holistic approach to psychotherapy which not only treats the whole person but also meets them where they are, rather than setting out with the agenda of fixing anything. You will learn to pay attention to and interpret everything that comes with your client into the therapy room — past, present and future — in order to fully support your client’s healing journey. 

This 2-day workshop introducing this powerful multi dimensional therapeutic framework is delivered through a lens of deep constellation work. The course is open to psychotherapists, counsellors, somatic therapists, yoga therapists and other healthcare professionals. No previous experience of the Nine Dimensions training is required. 

Dates: June 16-17

Cost: £300

Early bird bookings (until May 31, 2026) pay a discounted rate of £255

IP Graduates pay a discounted rate of £240

All the details of the workshop here: Understanding the Nine Dimensions Psychotherapy Model