What is Supervision?

Supervision is a formal arrangement for Counsellors / Psychotherapists to discuss their work regularly with someone who is experienced in Counselling / Psychotherapy and Supervision.

The task is to work together to ensure and develop the efficacy of the Counsellor/Psychotherapist/Client relationship. The agenda will be the Counsellor/Psychotherapist’s work, with the Supervisor’s reactions and comments. Supervision is a process to maintain adequate standards of  Counselling/Psychotherapy and a method of consultancy to widen the horizons of the practitioner.

Why Supervision?

Supervision is seen by the IACP as vital to the process and ongoing maintenance of a Counsellor/Psychotherapist’s competency and continued accreditation.  All IACP Members working as Counsellor/Psychotherapists are bound by the IACP Code of Ethics and Practice to monitor their work through regular Supervision, to ensure that their standard of Counselling/Psychotherapy is competent and continues to develop.

Online Supervision

Remote / online supervision is now accepted for Pre-Accredited Members who work online (a maximum of 50 hours of client work out of 450 can be supervised online) and for Accredited Members and Supervisors who work with clients both face to face and remotely. 

IACP Supervisors who supervise remotely / online, must be competent to deliver work remotely and adhere to IACP's Criteria for Remote / Online Counselling and Psychotherapy Work, as well as our Recommended Approach for Online Counselling & Psychotherapy (both files are available here). 

Competence and training

Competence includes having alternative ways of providing services if the primary method of communication fails, having access to technological support that ensures the confidentiality of the work and keeping up to date with new technological developments, to provdie the safest and most reliable service to clients. 

Competence in providing counselling / psychotherapy services and supervision using technology requires formal training. Training should cover modules such as:

•  Different means of delivering online therapy and supervision 
•  Benefits and risks of online client and supervision work for practitioner and client / supervisor and supervisee
•  Legal and ethical considerations including informed consent, privacy / GDPR
•  Future developments and the importance of staying up to date with technological changes 

It is recommended that online supervision is contracted face to face and that there is a blend of face to face and online supervision contracted when possible rather than solely online / remote supervision, to maintaing the benefits of face to face contact in building a supervisory relationship. All other current supervision criteria must be met in order to count online supervision. 

For those interested in online / remote work and/or supervision, an introductory course in working online is available on the IACP Online CPD Platform which can be accessed through the Members' Area of the website: here. Please click on the CPD Portal to access the training area free of charge. If you have mislaid your login details or password, please contact IACP Member Care on 01 230 3536 or iacp@iacp.ie  

Supervision

• Overview
• Recently Accredited Supervisors
• Code of Ethics and Practice for Supervisors
• Online Directory of Accredited Supervisors
• Supervision Requirements
• How do I become an Accredited Supervisor
• Renewal of Supervisor Accreditation
• CPD for Accredited Supervisors
• Supervisors Report Forms
• Inactive Accredited Supervisor Membership
• Supervisor Accreditation Appeals Procedure
• Supervisor FAQ

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