Episode 6: Wholistic Clinical Supervision: Integrating Self of the Practitioner in Supervision with Jodie Lockey and Stephanie Dinsmore

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

In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Jodie Lockey and Stephanie Dinsmore, social workers and clinical supervisors, to discuss wholistic clinical supervision and how to integrate self of the practitioner in clinical supervision.

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

Jodie: Hi, Kayla. Thank you for having us.

Stephanie: Thank you so much for having us, Kayla.

Kayla: Before we dive into today’s episode, I’d like you both to introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about your practices as well as your clinical supervision journey.

Jodie: Excellent. Thank you so much for having us. My name is Jodie Lockey and I am a clinical integrative trauma therapist, and I have a doctorate of counseling psychology. I have been passionate about integrating wholistic approaches in both my clinical practice and in supervision, ensuring that every aspect of my clients and supervisees well-being is considered.

Stephanie: Yeah, thanks Kayla. I’m Stephanie Dinsmore, a clinical integrative trauma therapist as well, just like Jodie. I focus on the whole person in my practice as well in supervision, and I’m so excited to share our insights on wholistic clinical supervision with your listeners.

Kayla: Wow. It’s so great to have you both here today. So, first of all, what is wholistic clinical supervision and why is it important?

Stephanie: Yeah, wholistic clinical supervision involves considering the entire person. So, both for the supervisee and their clients. It’s about addressing not just the professional aspects, but also the personal and those emotional facets, making the supervision process more comprehensive and effective.

Kayla: That’s great. So. are there specific components that should be included when we’re providing wholistic clinical supervision?

Jodie: Yes, I think definitely. So integrating self, creating space for vulnerability continuing to foster a mindset of personal and professional growth. And ultimately promoting reflective practice are really key components. We really believe in modeling from a place of vulnerability and using sense of self, as a way to, to grow.

Kayla: So, when we think of sense of self, what does that mean?

Jodie: So, this could be utilizing both personal and professional sense of self. So, modeling vulnerability is leading with examples real life examples that you’ve experienced both personally and professionally and using sense of self in an ethically appropriate way. So, I always remember this retreat that I did around mindfulness. And it was around you know have all of these counselors tried these mindfulness skills and almost everybody said no they practice it with their clients, but they haven’t actually tried it.

So, for me, I believe that if we are actually, you know kind of modeling and showing what we’re doing and we’ve tried it. We understand barriers. We understand what works well, what doesn’t work well, and we have direct experience in what this feels like and looks like before we share it with both clients or in supervision.

Kayla: When we think of integrating the self, how does that apply with self-disclosures or does it?

Stephanie: Yeah, so integrating the self, I actually do think this is a very important piece of wholistic supervision and something that I align with as a supervisor. I do self-disclose. I think it’s very important to share not only my personal experience, but also my professional experience and how I’ve used self-disclosure with clients.

I find supervisees are often a little bit alarmed by this because in school we are taught to not talk so much about self-disclosure and being very careful when to insert it. Cause again, a session is about a client. And I encourage people to do this because it is a wholistic way to help clients understand that they’re not alone in their experience. Maybe I’ve experienced this, too.

So, I use this in a way that would be helpful to a client. I’m not inserting it in a way that I’m talking about my own story, but I’m just allowing a client to know you’re not alone. I hear you. I see you. And I’ve actually been there, too, or as well. And just seeing the client light up when we talk about that is so helpful. And it really aligns us with our rapport and therapeutic alliance.

Kayla: You know, I really appreciate that because I agree as well that when we think of self-disclosures, of course, there’s a balance. But I’ve mentioned this on the podcast and in the past, when I was experiencing workplace burnout, the one thing that I remember that my therapist said had nothing to do with any clinical or therapeutic aspect or activity. But was her self-disclosure and that’s why I am where I am today. I said to my therapist, I’m like, I don’t know what to do here. I feel so burnt out. And her response was, that’s why I went into private practice. Nothing clinical about that at all except for self-disclosure. And that is the one thing that I remember and it’s the reason I am where I am today and I appreciate her so much for that.

Stephanie: Wow, thank you so much for sharing that and that just touched me and hearing about your experience in therapy and that your counsellor’s ability to use self-disclosure not only appropriately but also wholistically. And again, that’s where I’ve used it and it is so impactful for clients. But now also for supervisees. And that’s why I love doing and facilitating supervision because I think it’s so important to share how these conversations are not only appropriate but impactful for clients.

Kayla: I agree a hundred percent. So how does integrating the self of the practitioner benefit the clinical supervision process?

Stephanie: Yeah. So absolutely. There is actually some tips that we can share for integrating self into clinical supervision and I’ll let Jodie start us off.

Jodie: Thanks. So, the first one that I always mention is like leading with vulnerability. So, sharing our own experiences as we just discussed and challenges both as a counsellor, as a supervisor, as a person, this sets the tone for a really open and honest conversation. And also, being real and authentic, right? So, showing up as your true self in supervision sessions, so the uniqueness of you, what you bring forward. This includes strengths, this includes talking about weaknesses or things to grow upon, and everything else in between. And so, authenticity builds trust, it encourages supervisees to do the same.

I have seen such changes in supervisees when they come to a space that they recognize they feel safe and they feel open and they can lead with their own vulnerability and it will be met with compassion and a non-judgmental tone. You can just see the growth happening when you show up this way.

And the last one for me, too, is reflective practice. So, the ability to engage in regular reflection of both self in allowing space for both successes, but also challenges. And this helped integrate personal insights into professional practice. And I think balancing both of those is really ideal for both counselling and supervision.

Stephanie: I love that. Thanks, Jodie. I’m also thinking about just how we create that safe space. So really thinking about how do we establish an environment where supervisees feel comfortable sharing their vulnerabilities without fear of judgment. And so, like we just discussed earlier, one way that I do that is sharing about my own experiences in hopes that supervisees feel safe to have that conversation.

As well, using examples and stories. So really that narrative piece. Sharing those real-life examples and our personal stories can also illustrate those concepts and make them relatable. But also acknowledging barriers. So, recognizing and addressing potential barriers to integrating ourselves. Such as fear of judgment and feelings of inadequacy, and discussing them openly with supervisees. So, sharing my own experiences and then holding space for others to do the same.

Kayla: I love that. You know, when we think of vulnerability, how does that foster growth in both the supervisor and the supervisee?

Jodie: So, when there is a foundation of safety, people show up as their true self, so they can have real conversations, difficult conversations, they can talk about how they feel about working with certain clients, or certain issues, or how they feel about their competencies, or how they feel about the things they want to grow upon.

And so that foundation allows them to show up with things that are actually going to initiate change or initiate growth. Whereas I think back, I started counselling decades ago. And when I started, the environment was so different that if I went to my supervisor nothing other than how great I was doing was ever discussed. You didn’t have a safe foundation to say, I’m really struggling with this client, or here’s where I don’t feel like I’m flourishing. It was not met with safety. It was not met with vulnerability. It was very much masking and not being authentic and not being able to have really difficult conversations, which ultimately created burnout in me after 10 years of practice and intensive trauma work. I was burnt out. I didn’t have the ability or the foundation to have real vulnerable conversations about where I was struggling or what I needed help with or what I was doing well in. It was just very surface level conversations.

Stephanie: Yeah, even in addition to that, that safe foundation is really what helps us to create that vulnerability and that safe space with our supervisees. So one example that comes to mind is I do facilitate group supervision and I had a supervisee reach out to say, Hey, can I meet with you for an individual? I was like, sure, no problem. We met and I could just see on their face. Cause we met over Zoom. That they were holding something in they didn’t want to share. And maybe from our groups of revision they felt that there was that piece of safe foundation and vulnerability and trust. And they quickly blurted out the issue that they wanted to discuss. And it was met with. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for being vulnerable. We’re going to get through this together. This is a safe place to have this conversation. It’s okay. And you just saw this rush across them like, wow, thank you so much. And thank you for allowing that safe space where we can both be vulnerable, but a really difficult conversation. And I shared an experience from 10 years ago when I did something very similar and they were like, thank you so much for sharing that. I actually feel a hundred times better and know that I can grow and learn from this experience and you’re not like firing me from group or from supervision. And I was like, absolutely not. This is a perfect example. About what I want you to come to me with and maybe we can even bring it back to group and talk about it with the other supervisees about how we can use this with them and they can grow and they really liked that idea.

Kayla: I love that. And, you know, there is an inherent power imbalance when we think of clinical supervision, especially if it’s clinical supervision versus clinical consultation. Meaning that maybe they’re a provisional social worker or therapist and looking to gain full licensure. However, there’s also that piece that, we need to be vulnerable, we want to be vulnerable, and that safety is also important. But then how do you balance the requirements of disclosure to either say, regulatory college and/or the provisional therapist’s educational institution if they’re students versus vulnerability and I guess confidentiality.

Stephanie: I think one of the biggest pieces that’s helped me, and in some supervisory training that I’ve completed is creating a supervisor and supervisee agreements checklist. And so together before we even enter clinical supervision together, which again, like Kayla said, is different from consultation.

The supervisee is informed, like these are the regulations that we have to abide by, whether you’re a senior. CRPO or OCSWSSW, as well as we might have considerations for your academic institution, if someone’s in placement. And so, we talk about all of those pieces before we enter into that supervisee and supervisor agreement. It’s both signed, it’s informed consent and we talk about ways how to bring up really challenging and difficult cases or ethical or legal related pieces. How can we talk about them and still bring them forward, ensure that you feel safe, and we are aware of the parameters that we have to abide by.

Kayla: That’s amazing. I think that’s really helpful to have a better understanding on how you can integrate the whole self even though there may be some parameters as a clinical supervisor. Really, you’re just being transparent about what those expectations, what those requirements are so that the person is fully informed.

Stephanie: Exactly, so really that big piece about fostering that safe environment for supervisees to ensure that they are getting what they need out of supervision and it’s that safe place and it’s unmasked, so it’s also vulnerable and helpful for them for their career.

Kayla: Perfect. So, do either of you have additional advice or tips for how listeners can integrate the self into clinical supervision?

Stephanie: Yeah, for sure. I mean, one of the pieces would be just about real life experiences that the supervisee has had, so maybe it’s not related to a specific clinical case or case that they’re working with, but maybe we’re having a conversation, and specifically in group supervision, another supervisee has shared a case, and maybe this is where other supervisees could see start to share some insight about their own personal experiences to help really develop that case consultation or providing insight and feedback about ways that other supervisees could work with their clients.

Jodie: Recently, I did a supervision retreat and I individualized it to what those specific counselors were looking for. And what we did was we balanced out personal and professional pieces. So, the professional components, we looked at utilizing art and music and somatic work and personal stories.

And we used a technique, that integrated personal and professional. So we had like a circuit that we went through. And so it was, here’s where I’m at with my journey. Here’s where I’m at with my career. Here’s where I’m struggling. Here’s the cases I’m struggling with. Here’s the things I feel like I’m doing well. And here’s what I want to grow on.

And by adding this personal component into a professional development component, it allowed to utilize the wholistic component of the whole person, not just parts of us, but rather our personal part impacts our professional part. So, when we bring that forward to be in alignment means that you’re acting with your authentic self. And so, I think that bringing in personal narratives, personal stories exploring or reflecting on where you’re at personally is also really important for where you’re at professionally and is very integrated into that. And it shows up in the work that we do as counselors, where we’re at personally.

And so, I think we can’t leave personal out of the story or out of the context or otherwise we’re missing a big part of ourselves. So, integrating it into our sessions, into a retreat, into the group that groups or dyadics or individual supervisions that we do allows the person to reflect on both where they’re at personally, both with cases with themselves, with careers. How things are going for them. But it also, it brings the whole person to the supervision.

Kayla: I like that. I know you both provide clinical supervision. Can you tell listeners a little bit about your approach to clinical supervision, who you work with, which jurisdictions you practice in, and how listeners can reach out if they would like to work with either of you?

Jodie: Absolutely. So, our approach to clinical supervision is deeply centered in client centered work. And so, it’s supervisee centered work. So, prioritizing the unique needs, the wants, the interest of each individual supervisee, implementing both personal and professional experiences as I mentioned. We like to create an environment that allows for vulnerability and growth. That’s our ultimate kind of goal. We lead without ourselves. We share our own personal experiences where relevant, where growth can happen, and we share our own challenges to set the tone for a very open and honest relationship.

This space encourages supervisees to talk about difficult things without fear of judgment, and it fosters personal and professional growth. We’re also characterized by using very creative methods. We were integrative therapists, as we mentioned, but we’d like creative pieces. So, we add in creativity, art, innovation to healing and growth, both personally and professionally. So, we implement expressive arts work, mindfulness practices, somatic movements, and other techniques actually into the work that we do in supervision. So, if a supervisee is interested in a kind of wholistic supervision models, then we add in poly bagel work. We add in act matrix and all these different things that we would do with clients in a supervision component as well. So, it’s a diverse kind of range of methods to support our supervisees.

Stephanie: Yeah, and on top of that, we also aim to really foster where a supervisor can explore these new ideas, concepts and methods into their practices. So not only professionally, but personally as well. We do encourage like if you’re asking your client to do this try it out yourself.

So really, it’s about a space for growth and learning is really essential for developing effective and compassionate practitioners. And it also helps us be real. I think that’s the biggest piece about the wholistic. It allows us for supervisees and clients to see that we’re real people too. So, we also encourage reflective practice and regular self-examination to really integrate personal insights into our professional development. So, lots of conversations about self-reflexive practice. That’s always how I end my group. We talk about self-reflexive practice. What is something new you’ve tried this week or since we’ve last met and we actually keep a list. And so, we’re sharing that with our entire group throughout our six sessions.

So, people can offer insight to the developments and new things that they’ve tried and areas that they’re trying to develop as a practitioner. And so, by combining these elements, we really strive to provide that comprehensive, supportive, and dynamic supervision that really empowers supervisees to thrive both personally and professionally. And again, always coming to wholistic whole model and use of self.

Kayla: Great. And in which jurisdictions and which professions do you currently provide clinical supervision for?

Stephanie: Of course. So, for myself, I’m accepting new supervisees who are registered either with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, as well as British Columbia Social Workers. I’m registered there also. And with CRPO, so this could be someone who is a Registered Psychotherapist independent practice or also someone who’s qualifying.

And I also highly encourage anyone who’s currently in practicum if you wanted to jump in on extra additional supervision. And I also accept practicum students as well who are external supervisees from my own practice to engage in wholistic group supervision.

Jodie: Similar to Stephanie, so I am in Ontario and I supervise both CRPO and Ontario College of Social Worker and Social Service Workers. Also encourage practicum students to reach out as well. And I engage in individual dyadic group and retreats.

Kayla: Perfect. So, to connect with Jodie and Stephanie, head to at mindfulpathcounselling.ca/clinical-supervision

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

Thank you both for joining us on the podcast today to discuss how to integrate self of the practitioner in clinical supervision.

Stephanie: Thank you so much for having us. I had an absolutely amazing time.

Jodie: Thank you.

Kayla: Thank you everyone for tuning in to today’s episode and I hope you join me again soon on your clinical supervisor’s couch podcast.

Until next time. Bye for now.