Lauren Smallwood

Profession:

Speech and Language Therapist

Location:

North East UK (remote working)

Work context/Areas of interest and specialism:

  • Dysphagia (including FEES/VF)
  • Communication and swallowing impairments in people with dementia
  • General medicine
  • Leadership
  • Mouth care
  • Head and neck cancer
  • Voice/Upper airways

Experience/training/membership:

  • 10+ years working in the NHS and private sectors, both in the UK and Australia
  • Certified member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)
  • Health Care Professionals Council registered (HCPC)
  • Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice member (ASLTIP)
  • Lee Silverman Voice Treatment certified clinician
  • Advanced training in FEES and VF
  • Completion of “Are you getting enough?” 1, 2 & 3 Intandem supervision training workshops
  • Mentoring Vietnamese SLT students through the Trinh Foundation Australia
  • Practice Educator for SLT students (UK)
  • Mary Seacole NHS Leadership Academy course alumni

Description of supervision service:

Who:

Speech and language therapists ✅
Allied health professionals ✅
NHS workers ✅
Independent practitioners ✅
Social service employees
Education staff ✅
Voluntary sector workers ✅
Newly qualified practitioners ✅
Cross-specialism ✅
Cross-profession ✅

Type:

Individual ✅
Paired ✅
Group ✅
Team✅
Managerial Supervision ✅
Professional Supervision ✅
Supervision of supervision ✅

Access:

Face-to-face:
— supervisor’s base
— supervisee’s base
— neutral location
Telephone: ✅
Video teleconference: ✅

Description of supervision approach:

My supervision approach encourages an open, relaxed and honest experience that challenges but also supports the supervisee. I work to delve into what makes each supervisee unique and ensure to listen to their individual needs during supervision, whilst also providing them with the support they require within a safe space.

In my experience, supervision is a delicate balance between lots of different factors and should hopefully change and adapt depending on the mood of the topic or the overall aim of the session.

Just like in music, supervision works the best when you have found the right accompaniment for you. During supervision we may want to change the tempo, the pitch or the mix of chords that make up each individual supervision session. Sometimes, we may need to step back and view the situation from an unbiased and objective perspective and I feel like this is a particular skill that I am able to offer my supervisees, whether working in SLT or in other professions.

I have over 10 years experience providing supervision to healthcare professionals both within the NHS and in independent practice. I strongly believe that all professionals should have access to trained and dedicated supervisors to support their development and to promote safe practice.

Contact details:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07947 694 034

Supervisor register