Supervision
Welcome to the IAPC&M’s supervision service for coaches and mentors. We are proud to offer this service to both our accredited members and non-members.
“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” – Douglas Adams
To help you understand why we strongly recommend all coaches and mentors (referred to below as practitioners) have supervision, and to help you find the right supervisor, we have prepared the information below. In case of any questions please contact us.
What is Supervision
Run a google search on the definition of “supervision” and you’ll get millions of entries. No wonder there is confusion over what supervision is, in a similar way that the myriads of definitions for coaching and mentoring cause confusion (in case you are wondering about the difference between coaching and mentoring you can find out more HERE).
The IAPC&M encourages practitioners to consider the definition they can best align to. We have chosen the following:
‘Coaching supervision is a co-created learning relationship that supports the supervisee in their development, both personally and professionally, and seeks to support them in providing best practice to their clients’ (Hodge, 2016).
What is the purpose of Supervision?
Supervision helps you achieve personal and professional growth. It also helps you to sustain and enhance your coaching/mentoring practice by giving you the opportunity to reflect on your current and/or future client work.
Supervision raises self-awareness in two areas:
- Internal – how well the practitioner knows themselves
- External – helping the practitioner understand how they are seen by others.
Supervision is, therefore, about facilitating change in knowledge, skill, attitude, and behaviour.
It helps practitioners to:
- develop their professional skills
- support them personally as a coach
- ensure they are practicing ethically.
The graph below helps us visualise these as three interconnecting circles – rather than individual components. The supervisor can be seen at the intersection of the three circles and moves readily around the distinct functions as and when required by the needs of the supervision session.
“Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.” – Immanuel Kant
Could we get a supervision testimonial here?
ASK DAVID FOR ONE, Bettina probably has some too.
How will Supervision Benefit you?
Firstly, but not exclusively, supervision is an opportunity for you to discuss specific client cases in more detail. Perhaps a client is stuck, and you want help in deciding an alternative approach. Perhaps you have noticed that you behave in different ways with some clients, and you want to understand why?
Supervision offers you the opportunity to reflect deeply on your client work as well as your own development – more deeply than you would objectively be able to do on your own. To that extent, it is past, present, and future-orientated.
Working with David has marked an important transition in my coaching carrier… coaching became alive , organic.. it became a process . He thought me how to reflect on my sessions and how to use my experiences as a coach to move further at a professional but also personal level . He also helped me establishing those very important boundaries between clients and me. David is extremely knowledgeable and has always something to share that would make one reflect or look further for education while at the same time being really supportive and compassionate . I still use the little trick he taught me after demanding sessions “ when finishing a session ask the pencil case on your desk , what was there in that session that I did not see”
Is supervision compulsory?
The IAPC&M has the highest expectations of standards of practice from its accredited members. Consequently, supervision is strongly recommended. However, we have not made it compulsory as we believe that members should be motivated enough to see the benefits.
Additionally, if supervision is forced upon someone it is likely to have the same effect as forcing someone to undergo coaching/mentoring or any other speaking-based theory; it doesn’t usually go well.
How to choose your supervisor?
Choosing a supervisor is like choosing a coach/mentor. Here are some things to consider:
- Training, qualifications, accreditations and experience
- Their methodology, philosophy and way of working
- Approach to providing feedback and challenge
- Availability
- Cost
- Not forgetting, their approach to their own supervision and development!
It is important to find someone you can work with on the issues that matter most to you. Therefore, speak to as many potential supervisors as you have the time for. Most offer discovery calls for free and if they don’t, perhaps they are not the right supervisor for you.
What does the IAPC&M offer?
We offer supervision to all accredited members at preferential rates based on their needs and current income level. Non-accredited practitioners are also offered supervision. To find out more about fees etc. please contact David Monro-Jones david@coach-accreditation.services