Unlock Your Full Potential with Individual Clinical Consultation
By Chris Campassi
Have you been considering individual consultation to support your private practice work? Are you feeling isolated or disconnected, not having a team to consult with when you have a tough client or feel stuck? Are you feeling overwhelmed, experiencing compassion fatigue, or starting to feel burnt out?
If you are experiencing any of the above, consider reaching out for Individual Clinical Consultation to get the support you need.
Mentoring and Support
The greatest benefit of doing individual consultation is having someone (a clinical supervisor) who is more experienced in the field get to know you as a person as well as therapist. This supervisor can be there to provide support as well as feedback that will improve the work you are doing with your clients. An individual supervisor, or consultant, can act as a mentor, helping you explore areas where you may want to develop further skills or become certified in a new modality.
Much like therapy, though, an effective clinical consultant will develop a relationship of trust with you before offering suggestions or feedback. They will come to know not only your therapeutic style and approach, but will understand you as a whole person. Your clinical consultant will help you notice your blindspots, monitor for compassion fatigue or burnout, and act as a sounding board when you are trying to work out an impasse you may have with a client.
Most importantly, a solid clinical consultant will focus on your professional growth and development. They will provide a safe space for you to try new skills and interventions, make mistakes without judgment, and develop a stronger sense of self as a therapist.
Case Consultation
Individual clinical consultation can be a great place for you to review cases that you may be struggling with, or to share new interventions that you have tried. When you feel stuck with a client, you may find yourself “grasping for straws”, only to find yourself feeling more lost or stuck with your client.
As you begin to try harder when you feel stuck, it is common that you will veer further away from your core style or modality, leading to you feeling less authentic. This in turn can lead to becoming disconnected or even frustrated with your client. If you do not recognize this as it is happening, it will likely lead to more disconnect with the client, and may lead to the client also feeling like eventually ending therapy.
In individual clinical consultation, your consultant will listen with a discerning ear as you share where you are stuck with a client and will ask you to reflect on any feelings that may be coming up for you. In doing so, the consultant will help you notice what frustrations are due to your own stuff (countertransference) as well as the client’s stuff (transference).
In helping you separate what you bring into the impasse and what the client brings, a consultant can help you first address the countertransference. Hopefully, this opens you up to a better understanding of how to navigate what is coming up with the client and in the room. Oftentimes I find that this is all that is necessary, as you often know what the client needs, but may need to “zoom out” and take a different approach.
However, at times, direct feedback can also be helpful for you to navigate past any struggles you may be having. A clinical consultant that is certified in an area you are learning can give you direct feedback about how to implement a new skill. Or if the issue is more general in nature, the consultant can offer different perspectives to consider.
Develop a New Specialization
As mentioned above, individual clinical consultation is a great way to develop a new skill. We often think of trainings and certifications as the best avenues to expand our scope of practice. Many certifications actually require individual clinical consultation following the training phase. This is because trainings often disseminate large amounts of information in a short amount of time (i.e., 30 hours of content in 3 days).
While these extensive trainings are quite helpful and share a lot of great information, there is often just too much information to consume at once. The sheer amount of information will naturally lead to some attrition of understanding in itself. More challenging is transitioning the concepts of training into practice.
This is where an individual clinical consultant is so valuable. The consultant not only has mastered the skill you are learning but has also worked with many clients using this technique or skill. The experience they have not only strengthens their skillset, but also offers opportunities to learn from many circumstances that you may not think of, or may not be covered in a training.
Being able to draw from their experience, your clinical consultant will help you navigate client problems that come up in real-time. By having a consultant work with you as you develop a new skill, you can try out new techniques, knowing that you will be able to review what you have tried with your consultant, while getting direct feedback that will improve your skills. More importantly, your clinical consultant can help you develop confidence in your skills.
Reach Out TODAY to set up Individual Clinical Consultation
One of the most important reasons I think it is important to get a consultant now, rather than waiting for when you “need” one, is that you are going to want someone you trust to go to when you need one the most.
Whether it is compassion fatigue, burnout, a trauma that a client experiences, or your own personal struggles, when crisis hits, you lose your ability to think clearly. You may struggle to navigate through overwhelmed feelings, and thus have difficulty reaching out for help.
Having a clinical consultant that you trust in place before the crisis hits will make these times much easier to navigate. Do yourself a favor now and begin working with a consultant. It is not a matter of whether or not you will need one one day, but rather when you will need one. Don’t wait until that time. Reach out today and find the consultant who will support your needs and be there when you need them the most!
How we can help
Check out our Clinical Consultation Community for all licensed clinicians looking for a sense of support and community. We offer different tiers based on your needs and additional professional development benefits when you join our community!
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 and Facebook.
