Presenting a client for supervision – some frameworks for supervision and case study.
1. | Identification |
| 1.1 | A first name only. Gender. Age group/life stage. |
| 1.2 | Your first impressions, physical appearance. |
2. | Antecedents |
| 2.1 | Contact. How the client came to see you, e.g. self-referred. |
| 2.2 | Context/location, e.g. agency, private practice, hospital clinic. |
| 2.3 | Pre-contact information. What you knew about the client before you first met. How you used this information. Any existing relationship or previous contact with the client and possible implications. |
3. | Presenting Problem and Contract |
| 3.1 | Summary of the client’s presenting problem. |
| 3.2 | Your initial assessment. Duration of problem. Precipitating factors (i.e. why the client came at this point). Current conflicts or issues. |
| 3.3 | Contract. Frequency, length and number of sessions. Initial plan. |
4. | Questions for Supervision |
| 4.1 | Key question(s) or issues you want to discuss in supervision. |
5. | Focus on Content |
| 5.1 | Client’s account of problem situation. |
| | (a) | Work – significant activity, interests. How client spends his/her time and energy. |
| | (b) | Relationships – significant people, family and friends. |
| | (c) | Identity – self-concept, feelings and attitudes about self. |
| | Additional related or explanatory elements might include client’s past/early experiences; strengths and resources; beliefs and values; hopes, fears and fantasies. Possible implications of cultural, economic, social, political and other systems. |
| 5.2 | Problem definition – (a) Construct a picture of the client’s view of the present scenario; (b) What is the client’s preferred scenario? What would client like to happen? How would the client like things to be? |
| 5.3 | Assessment and reformulation – how you account for and explain the presenting problem. |
| | (a) | Patterns/strandsAhemes/connections which emerge. |
| | (b) | In what way are these things important to explore? What theoretical concepts/models or explanatory frameworks for assessment? What hunches, new perspectives? |
| | (c) | What else, which has not been mentioned, might be important to explore? What silent hypotheses, blind spots? What underlying issues or past problems? |
| 5.4 | Counselling plan |
| | (a) | What direction or focus for future work? What possibilities, agenda? |
| | (b) | What criteria for change: theoretical frameworks and assumptions? |
| | (c) | Review and/or formulate plan(s). |
6 | Focus on process |
| 6.1 | Strategies and interventions |
| | (a) | What strategies and interventions have you used? |
| | (b) | What were you trying to achieve? |
| | (c) | What was the effect on the client? |
| | (d) | Generate alternative options. |
| 6.2 | Relationship |
| | (a) | What was happening between you and the client? Describe relationship; reframe relationship; try a metaphor. |
| | (b) | What was happening within the client (transference)? |
| | (c) | What was happening within you (counter-transference)? |
| | (d) | What changes within the developing relationship over the period being discussed? |
| | (e) | Evaluate the ‘working alliance’. |
| 6.3 | Evaluation |
| | (a) | Review process. |
| | (b) | Consider alternative tasks, strategies and ways of implementing counselling plan(s). |
7. | Focus on Parallel Process |
| 7.1 | What was happening between you and the superv... |
