On Becoming a Supervisor
A written review of clinical supervision practice — philosophy, relationship, format, evaluation, ethics, and documentation.
Editor's Note
Hello — and welcome. This portfolio is a written review of my practice as a clinical supervisor-in-training. It gathers the artifacts I return to most: the philosophy that orients me, the relationship I try to build, the format I keep, the measures I use to evaluate supervisee growth, and the documentation practices that keep the work ethical and defensible.
Clinically, I specialize in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and its adaptations — DBT, RO-DBT, DBT-PTSD, and DBT-C — alongside family systems training and adjunctive therapy techniques. My supervisory approach meshes an attachment-based framework — a secure, responsive alliance that attends to trust, vulnerability, power dynamics, and multicultural systems — with Cognitive-Behavioral Supervision, which provides the structure for challenging clinical assumptions, teaching behavioral strategies, and rehearsing interventions like behavioral activation and mindfulness. That mesh is organized developmentally through the Integrated Developmental Model of Stoltenberg and McNeill (2010), so what a supervisee needs from me at Level 1 is not what they need at Level 3. My commitment is simple: to support each supervisee in reaching their clinical and professional goals — with relational depth and practical skill for the complex cases (emotional dysregulation, trauma) we are most likely to sit with together.
Contents
Seven Sections
- ISupervisory PhilosophyA developmental, relational stance grounded in the Integrated Developmental Model (IDM).
- IIThe Supervisory RelationshipBuilding a working alliance that holds safety, challenge, and honest feedback.
- IIIFormat of SessionsHow weekly individual supervision is structured, minute by minute.
- IVEvaluation & AssessmentFormative and summative measures used to evaluate supervisee progress.
- VLegal & Ethical PracticeACA and Georgia Composite Board expectations that anchor each decision.
- VISupervision Case NotesWhy accurate documentation is the backbone of ethical supervision.
- VIISupervision ContractThe written agreement that names roles, responsibilities, and remedies.