When looking for a managerial or professional supervisor, either as a stand-alone arrangement or in addition to your ongoing supervision set up, the first thing to remember is to find someone who meets the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) standards and UK legislation related to supervision
There are a number of additional considerations to take into account. These vary from person to person and can include:
1. Location
How important is it that you can access face-to-face sessions with your supervisor?
How comfortable are you with online sessions, either as an alternative or in combination with face-to-face sessions?
2. Supervisor’s areas of specialism
How important is it that your supervisor:
- is from the same specialism as your own (e.g. stammering, neurorehabilitation)?
- has experience, knowledge and skills in a particular specialist area (e.g. stammering, community neurorehabilitation)?
- has a similar or different philosophy or approach to therapy (e.g. neurodivergent-affirming, life participation focussed, holistic)?
- is currently working in your field of practice?
- is from a different clinical area (e.g. voice)?
- has the same professional background (e.g. speech and language therapist)?
- has experience of working in similar context(s) to you (e.g. NHS/independent/voluntary sector/education)?
3. Supervisor’s experience, knowledge and skills
How important is the supervisor’s:
- supervision style and philosophy?
- supervision history as a supervisor?
- breadth of supervision service i.e. who they work with (e.g. work context, level of experience, professional background)?
- type(s) of supervision offered (individual, group, team, managerial supervision, professional supervision)?
- supervision history as a supervisee (e.g. type, frequency and style) including their own current supervision arrangement(s)?
- level of training in the field of supervision?
4. Costs
Are the supervisor’s costs fixed or negotiated?
Are there additional cost considerations (e.g. room hire costs, travel, cancellation policy)?
Are they willing to invoice your organisation or do they prefer to be paid directly by the supervisee?
More details can be found here: RCSLT 2017 Information on Supervision