CLINICAL SUPERVISION IN WASHINGTON STATE
Supervision For Social Workers & Therapists
You’re looking for culturally responsive, trauma informed supervision
The difference between effective and ineffective supervision is crucial toward your development as a clinician.
Good supervision is the cornerstone of skill development, confidence building, and education once you graduate.
Good supervision should be reflective, supportive, attentive, educational, and insightful.
It’s important you find the right fit for your needs, goals, and values. Not all supervisors will be a good fit.
As your supervisor, I am committed to helping you thrive and ask for equal commitment from you.
I will help you find ways to support your clients, your role in the therapeutic process, deepen your therapeutic orientation, become more comfortable with ambiguity, and ways to get unstuck when faced with challenges and difficult moments.
Supervisees I Work With
I work best with supervisees who:
Prefer a decolonized and relational approach outside of the traditional Euro-centric ways of learning, being, and knowing.
Value directness, honesty, challenge, authenticity, and compassion.
Are self aware, curious, open to learning, and have a beginner’s mind.
Who want to be effective, compassionate, and ethical social workers and therapists.
Believe who we are (Use of Self) shows up in the room and shapes our experiences with clients. It is how we use our Self, many experiences, and intersecting and complex identities that offer richness and healing in service of our clients.
Want to learn and specialize in the following areas
Trauma informed care
Trauma specific therapy and phased base approach to trauma healing
Somatic therapy
Experiential therapy
Narrative therapy
Attachment and relational therapy
Relationship and attachment issues
Multicultural therapy (engaging with areas of difference)
Grief & loss
Anxiety
Identity development
Couples/dyad/relationship therapy
Want to open, build, and sustain a private practice and are interested in learning the business aspects of being a therapist.
Are working in nonprofit/community mental health and want to cultivate and refine their clinical skills.
Supervision Framework
My framework for supervision is similar to how I am as a therapist and clinical social worker using the Integrative Developmental Model (IDM) of supervision incorporating multicultural and feminist frameworks.
The IDM highlights 3 stages of development.
Level 1: Early/Novice/New
Externally focused (seeks positive feedback, structure from supervisor)
Highly anxious (fearful and worried about making mistakes)
Highly motivated (wants to perfect therapy and do the right thing)
Unsure and worried about feedback and evaluation
Focused on self
Limited self-awareness
Level 2: Middle/Transition/Adjustment
Greater ability to focus on and empathize with client. However, balance is still an issue. Problem can be veering into enmeshment with the client
Supervisee vacillates between being very confident to self-doubting and confused
Supervisee experiences conflict between autonomy and dependency.
Level 3: Expert/Confidence/Competence/Ongoing
More structure provided by supervisee
More focus on personal and professional integration and career decisions
Increased desire to personalize orientation/approach/style
More independent/autonomous, better understands limitations
Focus begins to include self-reactions to client
Multicultural & Feminist Framework
Location of self context and intersectional identities
Increasing awareness of individual and systemic oppression and trauma
Promotion of advocacy and social change
Self reflection
Exploration of power and empowerment
A strong collaborative and working supervision relationship
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Systemic Thinking
Reflecting on how your cultural history, identities, and social context shape your practice
Developing Your PracticeWhile theoretical orientation is important, what’s more important is congruence, authenticity, incorporating your inherent strengths, applicable skills, and personality into your practice
Common Factors
Using Common Factors, we will set the foundation for your unique style and approach
Therapeutic effectiveness may rely more on commonalities rather than whether you practice CBT or psychodynamic therapy
This includes
therapeutic alliance
empathy
goal consensus
collaboration
positive regard
affirmation
mastery
congruence/genuineness, mentalizatio
emotional experience
Congruence: Finding Your Voice & StyleWho am I?
What are my stories?
What do I offer to clients?
Increase Your Confidence
Confidence is a feeling you can learn to embody more of
I will support you through role plays, process recordings, reviewing videos or audio clips, and affirm your inherent strengths
Developing A Broad Range Of Skills & Knowledge
An effective therapist is knowledgeable and skilled in managing a variety situations:
ethical dilemmas
holding strong boundaries
crisis management
awareness and management of counter transference
clinical skills
understanding human behavior and development
case consultation
building relationships
Deliberate Practice
No therapist is perfect. We all have areas of strengths and weaknesses.
Just like any other profession or skill, therapists can be better at this work through deliberate practice methods such as
1) Reviewing video sessions
2) Practicing tolerating discomfort around areas of counter transference
3) Continual practice of skills, tools, and practice through role-plays and experiential ways
Research shows experience and length of time practicing as a therapist does not necessarily equate to effectiveness and competence
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Trauma recovery and impacts of trauma on relationships (complex, attachment, childhood, racial, intergenerational)
Somatic therapy and the role of the body in healing trauma (IFS, Somatic Experiencing, AEDP, Mindfulness)
Relational issues (emotions, boundaries, communication, family of origin)
The role of culture on identity, relationships, and Self
Relationship/couples/dyad therapy using PACT & EFT
Emotion focused therapies (AEDP, EFT)
Relational Cultural Therapy (RCT)
Multicultural feminist therapy
Private practice and running a small business as a therapist and clinical social worker
Social work ethics
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Children
Adolescents
Teenagers
Families
OCD
Psychosis
Substance use
Insomnia/sleep disorders
Sex therapy
Discernment counseling
Learn More About Supervision
Click on the boxes on the right to learn more.
My Commitment To You
There is no one right way to do things, and while I am happy to share my own thoughts and experience with similar situations, the best way I can serve you as a supervisor is to:
Support you toward growth, confidence, learning, and development through education, mentoring, and guidance;
Help you feel grounded in the principles and values of our work;
Find your genuine voice and style in your client-therapist relationships;
Be direct, but compassionate in my communication and feedback;
Affirm and validate you and your many strengths, stories, and identities; and
Co-create a space where we hold the many issues, concerns, challenges you bring in a thoughtful manner.
You Can Expect Me To:
Be a professional and follow the Social Work Code of Ethics and follow Washington State laws
Show up and be on time
To let you know if I will be unavailable to meet for our session at least 24-hours prior
Help you with a wide range of issues, concerns, and clients
Help you understand the legal and ethical standards for treatment
Help you feel more confident so you can be prepared for independent practice
Provide you with required primary supervision documents regularly (every 2-3 months) and monthly billing statements as secondary documentation
Hold our meetings with confidentiality (with the exception of preventing imminent danger)
Provide you with support outside of our scheduled supervision session (e.g. answering a quick question via email or scheduling an additional session for an urgent issue)
My Expectations Of You
Show up and be on time
To let me know when you will be unavailable to meet at least 24-hours prior to our meeting
To complete your own research around your intended profession (LICSW, LMFT, LMHC) in terms of legal requirements (hours, approved supervision, approved supervisor, continuing education, renewal, etc.)
Maintain documentation of your direct and indirect clinical hours & supervision hours/work completed
Periodically submit documentation of supervision hours completed to the DOH
Be proactive and have things to talk about and/or review
Ask for what you need, want to learn, and how you want to grow
Provide me feedback when things aren’t working for you
To honor your own boundaries and limits
To practice compassion to yourself
To take care of and engage in ongoing self-care and community-care
To be human; just be you and show up as you are (trust takes time and we go at the pace of trust)
Fees
Individual Supervision
$150 per 60-minutes (associates in private/group practice)
Individual Supervision
$75 per 60-minutes (associates in community mental health & social services agencies)
Dyadic Supervision (split between 2 supervisees when you find another person willing to split supervision)
Supervision Blog
Learn more about what to expect in supervision with me, employment opportunities in Washington State, private practice resources, and more.
Begin Supervision In 4 Steps
Step 1: Review Website
Review my website and watch my videos to see if we might be a good fit. Click here to see if I have openings.
Step 2: Schedule Consultation
Let’s get to know one another with a 5-10 minute conversation.
We’ll discuss what your goals are and how I might be able to help. We’ll only move forward and work together if we both agree we’re a good fit.
If not, I’ll offer you referrals to other supervisors who can help you.
Step 3: Complete Paperwork
Complete supervision paperwork (contract, agreement) on the client portal within 24-hours to confirm your first appointment. Let me know if you have any questions before signing.
Once you do, I’ll send you a copy of my license and provide you a signed Approved Supervisor Form for your records before our first meeting.
You’ll also receive monthly supervision billing statements as secondary documentation for proof of our supervision.
Step 4: End Supervision
We’ll end anytime you find supervision unhelpful or unnecessary, you require a different type of supervisor, and/or you finally accrue enough hours toward licensure.
I’ll provide you all necessary signed documentation before we end.
Start Supervision Today
Read through my website and watch my videos to learn more about me, my services, and if we might be a good fit.
Click here to see if I have openings.
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If you want to learn how to open your private practice in Washington State, I recommend the following resource here which outlines step-by-step instructions at no cost.