4 Ways External Supervision or Consultation can support Social Workers and Counselors working in an Agency setting
By Chris Campassi
Are you a social worker or counselor working in an Agency or Community Mental Health setting? Maybe you are new to the field and working towards your licensure, or you have been in the field for some time, but may be experiencing burnout or compassion fatigue?
Working in an agency setting is really hard work. You are faced daily with the consequences of a community that has limited resources to provide help to those most in need. For many of your clients, you are the sole advocate that they have in their lives.
Agency Mental Health Work is Really Hard
Take a second to really reflect on the work you do. While you are working with limited resources to help people with very complex mental health, health and social difficulties, I hope that you can truly appreciate how much of yourself you sacrifice in the name of providing excellent care to those most in need. And with that appreciation in mind, it is critical that you place an equal amount of emphasis on the importance of getting the clinical support you need in a proactive and consistent manner.
Pros need other Pros in their lives
Much like a professional athlete needs their nutritionists, trainers, doctors, cooks, and coaches to be successful, professional therapists need their own therapy, supervision and consultation so that they may continue to be successful.
4 Ways Supervision and Consultation can be helpful to Agency-Based Therapists
Getting outside supervision and consultation while working in an agency setting can be beneficial in so many ways. Individual supervision can shape your development, while preparing you for licensure. Group supervision can be used to connect with other therapists in different settings, exposing you to different perspectives.
Likewise, clinical consultation, either individual or in a group setting, can offer support for those of you wanting to develop a new technique or work with a new population. Finally, supervision and consultation can provide support while you navigate inevitable feelings of compassion fatigue, burnout, or the effects of vicarious trauma.
Supervision for Licensure
Most of you have likely experienced that feeling after you graduate with your Social Work or Counseling degree that you JUST want to get your supervision hours and 2 years of experience under your belt so you can get your license.
After five years of school, practicum, internship and post-graduate hours and supervision, you will have finally arrived. All of the boxes will finally be checked off. In many ways, this is the most important benchmark of your career. And in many ways, it is the least important.
Clinical Supervision Supports Professional Development
Now, don’t get me wrong, here, you DO have to be licensed to continue practicing. My point is that attaining and maintaining licensure is the easy part. The real benefit of development-based supervision is that emphasis will be placed on your development in areas of ethics, techniques, theoretical orientation, your own style and identity as a therapist. In addition, ongoing supervision also creates intentional habits so that you may have a healthy and sustainable career.
Administrative versus Clinical Supervision in Agency Settings
While there are many wonderfully qualified supervisors in agency settings, they may be either over-worked and potentially burnt out themselves, or their position in the organization may dictate their priorities when providing supervision. Often an agency supervisor must monitor caseloads, notes, treatment plans, audits, and metrics. This is their role in the agency, and these roles are critical to the agency and its sustainability.
Unfortunately, there are times when these goals may clash with your own developmental goals or the best interests of your clients. If this is the case, consider reaching out to us at Firelight Supervision. We can offer supplemental supervision individually or in a group setting. We also contract with agencies to provide supervision for pre-licensure clinicians, when the agency is unable to provide an internal supervisor.
Group Supervision
Are you working in an agency that provides you a good salary, support and supervision, but you’re wondering what it is like to work in other settings?
Group supervision can provide you the opportunity to share cases with peers at your developmental stage, but who work in very different settings. Being able to hear other therapists’ perspectives and the different settings and modalities they work with can help you expand on your understanding of the variety of ways we can help our clients, while also providing support from like-minded therapists.
Many of our supervisees at Firelight attend group supervision 1-2 x per month, in addition to the supervision they receive through their work. External clinical supervision is cost-effective, while providing external support that is more focused on you than your agency.
Specialized Clinical Consultation
Been licensed for a few years, feeling like you have mastered your job duties, and you’re starting to consider a specialty?
If you are considering a transition from agency work into private practice, want to find a specialty, or want to begin working with a new client population, external clinical consultation might be for you.
Consultation can be used to identify interests and to create a plan for getting the training you might need, if you are feeling stuck and unsure of the next steps. Or, if you have identified a specialty or client population already, consultation can provide the professional mentorship you need to appropriately develop the specialization or niche client population. Finally, if you are considering becoming a clinical supervisor, supervision of your supervision may be beneficial.
Firelight Supervision Specialties:
- Maternal Health
- Severe and Persistent Mental Illness
- Trauma/ EMDR
- Crisis Evaluation and Intervention
- Psychodynamic
- Substance Abuse and Addictions
- Supervisor Development
- Older Adult
Self-care, Compassion Fatigue and Burnout Prevention in Clinical Supervision
Have you been doing agency work for many years? Has the vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue begun to feel overwhelming? Are you becoming cynical about your work, or even considering quitting?
As mentioned above, agency work is amongst the most challenging work in the field of mental health. You are exposed daily to trauma and the suffering of your fellow humans. You hold others’ pain and anxiety, you walk alongside them during their most dark and difficult times, and they rely on you just to survive. You are true superheroes….. but at times that cape can become very, very heavy.
External Consultation that is focused on you as a human first and therapist second can help you identify how your work is impacting you and begin to problem-solve ways to protect yourself from further damage. This also allows you to develop a plan to grow and become stronger.
When you are experiencing burnout, it is often difficult to identify how much you have adapted to some of these negative feelings. Likewise, when working in an agency setting, your peers may also be experiencing burnout as well, with no one really appreciating the negative impacts it is having on morale.
Getting consultation from someone outside of your setting may offer perspective as well as guidance on how to navigate such feelings. This can also help in assisting you with re-setting necessary boundaries, attending to your own self-care, and helping you develop intentional habits that will help you maintain a sustainable level of well-being.
At Firelight Supervision, we offer both consultation groups and individual consultation that will help you focus on yourself, so that you can continue to be a great therapist.
Author Bio
Chris Campassi is an Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) and Program Coordinator of Firelight Supervision. He is a licensed psychotherapist in Colorado and North Carolina, blogger, and clinical supervisor for provisionally-licensed and independently licensed therapists. Chris enjoys helping men, medical professionals, and former athletes manage their anxiety and stress so they can live fulfilled and balanced lives. Follow Firelight Supervision on Instagram.
