Good clinical supervision is essential for assuring a therapy practice or treatment center is offering the best clinically driven, ethical, client centered services possible. While most clinicians and licensed therapists are required to obtain a certain number of supervision hours for their private practices, unfortunately, many facilities and treatment centers do no place enough (if any) emphasis on their treatment teams getting good, consistent clinical supervision on an ongoing basis.

Clinical supervision provides a number of benefits for therapists and the staff as a whole:

• Clinical supervision can help staff to identify and cope with the personal and professional stressors inherent in working in the mental health and addictions field. This is especially true for those who work with people who may be dealing with difficult issues and can be damanding as clients. Clinical supervision provides a safe and confidential place to explore their own personal and emotional reactions or “counter transference” issues that may otherwise get in the way of a healthy therapeutic alliance.
• Clinical supervision can allow the therapist to reflect on their own history and personal experiences that may otherwise, subconsciously affect the client therapist relationship. They can receive feedback and recommendations from another professional on their approach/style that is separate from management or evaluative considerations.
• Clinical supervision can be an aspect of the therapist’s professional development, and also help to identify developmental needs as well as professional goals and interests.

Clinical supervison can prevent burn out and increase staff retention. Working with mental health and addiction issues is emotionally taxing and without good boundaries, one can easily burn out and feel like quitting. The support of a good clincial supervisor can make all the difference, build staff morale and improve team work.

Clinical supervision can contribute to meeting requirements of professional bodies and regulatory requirements for continuing professional development (where applicable).

At Solutions Treatment Center we recognize the value of excellent clinical supervision and have reaped the rewards. Liz Cervio has been offering supervision to our therapists, counselors and interns for the past year, and we are happy to offer a training titled: