MFA, MB, ChB, FRACP, PGCertProfSupv

Professional Consultancy & Supervision

What is professional supervision?

For members of the ‘helping professions,’ ‘professional supervision’ refers to a process of regular, focussed meetings with another practitioner to discuss and reflect on specific cases and one’s practice in general. For some – counsellors, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, the clergy, and anyone working in the fields of mental health, addiction or palliative care – professional supervision is a well-established and lifelong part of professional life. For doctors, nurses and health professionals working in other areas, is less common but increasingly recognised as important and useful.

Supervision fulfils several purposes. It plays a central part in continuing professional development and facilitates learning-in-practice. It has a ‘restorative’ function, providing support to the practitioner in dealing with challenging situations; helping to process the ‘vicarious trauma’ that may be experienced as the result of exposure to patient or client suffering; and preventing or mitigating the burnout that is so common especially in those working in the public health sector. Finally, in certain professions, supervision is a mandatory requirement for ongoing registration and quality assurance.

"Supervision is about mediating the interface between my job and the rest of my self – how my work affects my life, and how my life affects my work."

"It’s about having someone external to my daily work but who has an understanding of my work and my life to discuss issues that arise from my work, It increases my understanding and objectivity. It may involve working through clinically or professionally challenging problems, but just as often it’s about working through my personal responses to the job."

About me

I have worked for thirty years as a senior medical specialist, a Consultant Physician in General Internal Medicine, with experience caring for acutely unwell adults in hospital with a wide variety of illnesses. I have vocational registration with the Medical Council of New Zealand. For many years I also cared for people with long-term conditions on an outpatient basis, and although not a specialist in palliative care I have looked after many people at the end of their lives. In parallel with my medical career I have a Fine Arts degree and am active as a photographer and oral historian, with a body of work that emphasises portraiture and the documentation of subjective experience. Over the years in my personal life I have engaged in my own therapy, professional supervision, and a broad range of group work, and have a solid practical understanding of psychodynamic processes. In 2019 I completed a Post-Graduate Certificate in Professional Supervision at the University of Auckland, complementing my extensive clinical and personal experience with the specific skills required to provide effective supervision.

What I offer

Although ‘supervision’ is the commonly used term, ‘Professional Consultancy’ may be a better description of the service I offer. As a private practitioner I am independent of any employer or other organisation and our conversations remain confidential to us. (In exceptional circumstances, where there is a question of patient/client or practitioner safety, it may be necessary to break confidentiality; we would discuss when this might occur.) My own experience has equipped me particularly well to working with doctors and other health professionals. However, ‘interdisciplinary supervision’ is increasingly recognised as being useful and valuable. My training has drawn on a wide range of methods and approaches beyond the medical model and I can work effectively and insightfully with people from other professional backgrounds.

A major emphasis of this type of consultancy supervision is the facilitation of reflective practice. ‘Reflective practice’ refers to the process of examining and evaluating events or experiences, drawing links with ideas from different domains, theories or literature, and thus improving understanding and practice. It is closely linked to the concept of ‘experiential learning’ described by educationalists such as David Kolb and is widely recognised as a fundamental part of ongoing professional development.

Along with that, I offer a ‘safe space’ in which to explore and process the emotional responses that always arise from dealing with people at critical moments in their lives – as well as the complex institutional environments in which we work. Being able to discuss work-related issues with someone who has an understanding of the nature of professional practice and yet is independent of the workplace and recognises the inter-connectedness between our professional and personal selves is important in maintaining both our personal wellbeing and our energy and enthusiasm for the jobs we do.

Like anyone offering professional supervision, I myself will always maintain a supervisory relationship with another suitably qualified professional to facilitate my own professional development.

Beginning supervision

If you’re interested in embarking on supervision, then we begin with a preliminary meeting in which we discuss in more detail what I can offer and what you hope to get out of the process. This may then lead to setting up a ‘contract’ in which we cover practical details such as the times and frequency of meetings, payment etc, as well as defining our mutual goals and expectations, processes for evaluation and feedback, and expectations around confidentiality. There is no charge for this initial session.

Typically we would then agree to meet on a monthly basis. For subsequent sessions, my fee is set on a sliding scale of $150 to $300 + GST per hour depending on your means.

Contact

E-mail: supervision@markbeehre.co.nz

Phone or text: 027 416 4402