Episode 5: When Supervision Goes Wrong: 5 Red Flags in Clinical Supervision with Samm Brenner Gautier

Kayla: Welcome back to Your Clinical Supervisor’s Couch Podcast, and I’m your host Kayla Das.

There are so many benefits of receiving clinical supervision, especially when conducted ethically and tailored towards your needs.

Unfortunately, there are times when clinical supervision may be counterproductive, specifically if a clinical supervisor displays key red flags in their approach to clinical supervision.

In today’s episode, Samm Brenner Gautier, Licensed Professional Counselor and Clinical Supervisor will discuss five red flags to look out for when working with a clinical supervisor.

Hi, Samm. Welcome to the show. I’m so glad to have you here today.

Samm: Hey, Kayla. Thanks so much for having me.

Kayla: Samm, before we dive into today’s episode, please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your practice and your clinical supervision journey.

Samm: Hey, everyone. My name is Samm. I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor and Clinical Supervisor in South Carolina. I started my private practice, Carolina Behavioral Counseling, about seven years ago when I was a brand new LPCA. Over time, I grew my company to a group practice, and I realized that I love supervising. So, I began working on my clinical supervision license.

As I work with my LPCAs on their licensure journeys, one theme that keeps coming up in supervision is how to navigate challenges with on site supervisors or employers. More specifically, when LPCAs are not feeling supported, or worse, when there are red flags with supervisors that need to be addressed.

Kayla: Amazing. So obviously today’s podcast is about red flags. So what red flags should clinicians look out for when receiving clinical supervision?

Samm: Honestly, there are so many, but to give our listeners a place to start, we’re going to just highlight a few that are pretty easy to spot once you know what to look for. And these are generally a good indication that something is wrong in your supervision.

So, the first one is not having a clear structure or any guidance during your meetings. What I mean by that is when the supervisor is kind of all over the place and not really providing the direction that you need. It’s really helpful to know exactly what to expect from supervision, whether that’s what topics are going to be covered, what goals you’re working on, or just generally how a meeting is conducted. This allows you to prepare and make the most of your time available.

The second issue is when a supervisor is unavailable, unreachable, or inconsistent. And the real concern here is when you have a challenging case or something that you need help with, and your supervisor is nowhere to be found. I don’t necessarily mean that they need to be available immediately. That may not be realistic, but when you can’t get a hold of them for days or even weeks, and they’re not responding to you, that’s a huge issue. And can really be a safety concern depending on what you need their assistance with.

The third problem, and this is something that we really all need to pay attention to, regardless of where we’re at with our licensure, is ethical violations or boundary issues. So, most of our ethical codes are actually not black and white, but there are some pretty obvious violations that you simply can’t ignore, whether you’re fully licensed or not. And ultimately, it is your supervisor’s legal and ethical obligation to teach you the right ways of handling these ethical dilemmas, not contributing to them.

A fourth concern that I see happening sometimes is a lack of emotional support or empathy towards you, especially when you’re navigating a difficult situation. So here’s the thing. The supervision relationship is very similar to the counseling relationship, where it is built and relies on trust. And if your supervisor isn’t supportive of you, guess what happens? You’re not going to feel comfortable disclosing what you need to or showing up fully yourself in supervision. And that’s going to compromise your supervision process and stunt your growth as a new counselor.

So the last red flag we’ll talk about is when your supervisor is inflexible or resistant to accommodating your learning style. Supervision really should have a variety of teaching techniques to include case studies, articles, role play, videos, writing assignments, things like that. So, if you’re ever working with a supervisor who has the same teaching format, every single meeting never provides other strategies, you’re probably missing out on quite a bit of learning opportunities there. And similarly, if they’re unwilling to explain certain things to you differently so you can better understand, that’s also going to be hard for you to take away what you need from supervision.

Kayla: I love that. And there’s one thing that you mentioned that I think we should touch on a little bit. So, what would be the difference between a supervisor who’s available for like an emergency crisis versus a supervisor who is developing their own boundaries between always being available?

So let me give you an example, I can imagine that there are some supervisees who have a significant emergency happening and need emergent support. But there’s also the need for the clinical supervisor to create those boundaries that they also have other clinical supervisees, as well as a life outside of clinical supervision. So, what is the tell a tale signs that it’s a red flag versus someone maintaining a boundary.

Samm: Yeah, absolutely. And it is tough because as clinical supervisors, we do also have our own clients. We have other supervisees, like you mentioned. We don’t work around the clock. So, I think for me what comes up is when there’s a significant safety concern, that is ultimately our responsibility. It’s our LPCA’s license on the line. It’s our license on the line. And ultimately, it’s our client’s well-being on the line. So, it’s really important that you are committing to your supervisee and showing up for them, especially in emergencies.

Kayla: I love that. Do you have any specific examples for how each red flag could show up in the clinical supervisory relationship?

Samm: Yeah, so I actually had a situation come up recently with one of my LPCAs. And she has an on-site supervisor where she works, and we were talking about some of the challenges that she’s experiencing there. And one of our meetings, she described two really serious situations to me with two different clients. And both of these situations involved safety concerns that really needed immediate attention. And one of those clients actually required inpatient care, and she notified her on-site supervisor about these cases, who is actually also the practice supervisor. And she was really looking for support and guidance on what to do, and this supervisor was unreachable and basically wouldn’t talk to her about it, kept brushing her off, wouldn’t engage in any conversation about it. So, my LPCA was left to figure this out on her own, and although she ultimately made the right call for these cases, she felt really dismissed by her on-site supervisor, especially during a time of need.

And as an LPCA, we’re new to this, we don’t necessarily have all the answers. We don’t know what are significant cases that do require immediate attention or not. So, to not have that support from that practice owner/on-site supervisor felt really isolating for her. And she didn’t really know what to do and ultimately this doesn’t just put her in a bad situation, it puts her client’s well-being at risk too.

Kayla: And I think that’s really important because clinical supervision is essential for the care of the clients, enhancing client care. And, I can imagine being a clinical supervisor comes with its own risks, its own ethical requirements. So, being very laissez-faire into that approach isn’t going to help anyone. It’s going to put the clinical supervisor at risk, it’s likely going to impact client care. It obviously doesn’t feel very good on the therapist who is looking for that guidance, that support to navigate these situations. So overall it’s a lose-lose-lose situation.

Samm: Yeah, and ultimately this damaged their supervision relationship. It’s pretty concerning when you have clinical cases that you need to staff immediately when it’s a safety concern, or having a client be expressing suicidal ideation, you need to know that you have that support to be able to handle it.

One thing that I really make sure that every LPCA that I work with knows is just how important it is for them to be open and honest with me. So I remind them I can’t do my job if I am not informed of everything going on but ultimately that’s my responsibility to create that safe environment for them where they’re willing to share. They know they’re not going to be judged. They know that they’ve got my support and ability to help them.

Kayla: So, in situations like this or just any of those red flags that you’ve mentioned, are there strategies for navigating them when they arise?

Samm: Yeah, the biggest thing I can share is how important it is to stay proactive and to take ownership of your learning. So, I actually do have a free guide that we’ll chat about and in that guide, I offer strategies that are going to help you address these challenges head on.

So, for instance, you can create your own structure of supervision. You can come prepared with specific topics or cases that you want to discuss. That’s something I encourage my LPCs to do is come to me and tell me what you want to work on, and I’ll help you with that. So, taking initiative is going to show autonomy, and this ensures that you’re getting what you need from supervision.

Another thing that’s really important, although definitely can feel uncomfortable, is effective communication. You need to be able to address concerns with your supervisor. If something isn’t working, you need to advocate for yourself by clearly expressing your needs, being open about these experiences. And in doing so, it is helpful to present some potential solutions or suggestions. This shows you’re actively working towards the resolution and this makes the conversation with them feel more comfortable.

So, in that guide, I walk you through kind of identifying all of these red flags. Applying it to your own experiences and giving you specific strategies to manage each of these.

So, at the end of the day, the supervision is for you, not for them. And if that dynamic ever shifts and you feel yourself accommodating your supervisor’s needs more than your own. Whether it’s you feeling like supervision is rushed, or you’re being overlooked or unsupported, this is a good sign to recalibrate.

Kayla: I know this varies depending on the therapist and where they are, like, private practice versus community health versus hospital setting and so forth. But when is it time to find a new clinical supervisor?

Samm: Yeah, it is so hard to find that out sometimes and to really identify what these red flags look like and how they’re showing up for you.

So, what I really think about is our training as counselors teaches us how to trust our gut with things. We’re taught and trained how to recognize behavioral patterns and emotional dysregulation. It really is no different than seeing that with your supervisor.

So, it’s important that you feel that gut instinct that says something is wrong. And as you work on that, either individually or with peers or even getting a secondary supervisor, that can really help you figure out what’s working well and what’s not working well and when it’s time to shift. And my guide will help you identify that more specifically, too, because there’s space for you to explore with specific examples.

Kayla: I like that you said about a secondary clinical supervisor. I never actually really thought about that, but especially if you work in settings where you really can’t change who the clinical supervisor is hired in that agency. Potentially having a secondary, even if it’s just an on call, or once a month. Just someone in your corner can help you when you can’t necessarily change who your supervisor or clinical supervisor is if you’re in some of these settings.

Samm: Yeah, that’s something that I think a lot of provisionally licensed counselors don’t know that they can do and it may vary by state. But in my state of South Carolina, you can have multiple supervisors. I recommend that usually. No more than two, I would say just otherwise you’re going to have too many opinions and you know too much to manage. But yeah, I mean both of my LPCAs right now, they have their on-site supervisors and that’s where they work at so you kind of have that already built into your employment or your contract. But you are more than welcome and you’re encouraged to have other supervisors too.

And where that can really benefit you clinically is that you may have one supervisor who’s very well trained in, let’s say, trauma or a specific treatment modality. And the other supervisor you’re working with may be trained in a different modality that you also want to learn. And so, in the case that we kind of talked about today with one of my LPCAs, that was really helpful for her to hear it from another supervisor that, hey, my gut instinct about this is right. And there are these concerns, and these are not things that I feel comfortable continuing with my on-site supervisor.

Kayla: That makes complete sense. So, do you have any tips or advice for listeners who come up against any of these red flags discussed in today’s podcast?

Samm: Yes. First and foremost, I want you to trust your gut. You may be provisionally licensed, but your voice is no less important than your supervisor’s. Like I said, you’ve completed all of this academic and internship training to be where you currently are. You’re trained to recognize these things. This is no different than recognizing it in supervision.

So, I want to leave you with this affirmation. And as you’re listening, it’s helpful to repeat this either mentally or out loud. I am deserving of high-quality supervision to support my growth.

Kayla: I love that. Oh, I so appreciate that you introduced that into the podcast because sometimes we just need that affirmation to remind ourselves. I love that.

So Samm, I know you’ve already mentioned this, but you have a free guide that you’d like to share with listeners. Can you tell us a little bit about your free guide and how it can help them?

Samm: Yes, absolutely. So, the free guide is called Red Flags Recognized and it is designed to help supervisees have a clearer idea of what supervision should and shouldn’t be. It can be hard to identify these things in real time, especially when you’re also faced with trying to be professional and respectful of your supervisor’s authority. So, when creating this resource, it was really important to me to give readers a space to explore and apply their own situations as well as include tangible strategies with very specific examples for how to navigate these challenges.

Kayla: So, to sign up for Samm’s free guide, Red Flags Recognized, How to Respond, check out canadianclinicalsupervision.ca/sammbrennergautierguide

Or you can simply scroll down to the show notes and click on the link.

Also, if listeners would like to reach out, how can they contact you?

Samm: Yes, the best way to reach me is via email. And my email is my first name Samm, I spell it with two M’s.

So, it’s [email protected]

Kayla: Great, and we’ll link that and her website down below. So, you can easily just access it there.

Samm, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today to discuss the five red flags to look for when receiving clinical supervision.

Samm: Thank you so much for having me. It was so great connecting with you and all of our listeners. Best of luck to all of you on your supervision journeys.

Kayla: Thank you everyone for tuning into today’s episode and I hope you join me again soon on Your Clinical Supervisor’s Couch.

Until next time, bye for now.