TRAINING COURSE

TRAINING COURSE IN PERSON-CENTRED

COUNSELLING SUPERVISION

October 2008

May 2009

PCT Professional Development

Affiliated with Person-Centred Therapy (Britain) and the Counselling Unit, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

THE COURSE

This is a 120 hour course, consisting of 4 non-residential

2-day meetings of 15 hours each, 10 hours of study group meetings, and 50 hours of private study.

The course is designed for experienced person centred counsellors (trained to Diploma level) who want to develop their supervision skills and their theoretical understanding of supervision in a way that is consistent with the person centred approach.

BACKGROUND TO THE COURSE

This programme is an extension of the work of Person-Centred Therapy (Britain) which offered extensive courses in Person-Centred Counselling and Psychotherapy since 1985 and which was one of the earliest to achieve BACP Accreditation in 1989. In the course of their work with the training of person-centred counsellors, the staff became increasingly aware of the importance of supervision which is consistent with the trainee counsellors’ approach. The supervisor plays an important part in the development of the trainee counsellor and of their understanding of the approach. Many experienced counsellors also choose to work with a supervisor who has a good understanding of their theoretical background, who shares their counselling philosophy and who works in a way that is consistent with the approach.

PERSON-CENTRED SUPERVISION

This course explores supervision as a facilitative relationship which supports therapists in the development and maintenance of their ability to relate congruently and at depth with clients (1)

In person-centred supervision, the supervision relationship can be conceptualised as parallel to the therapy relationship: offering a context where therapists can become aware of

the processes taking place in themselves in the relationship with the client, enabling them to become more congruent in that relationship. This is a developmental view of supervision in a most accurate sense: the supervisor has no other concern, no other agenda than to facilitate the therapists’ ability to be open to their experience so that they can become fully present and engaged in the relationship with the client. The person-centred supervisor accepts the supervisee as a person in process and trusts the supervisee’s potential for growth. The purpose of supervision then is not to monitor practice nor to guide the therapist to a particular perspective, but to support the therapist in their effort and commitment to be fully present in the therapy relationship.

In a supervision relationship characterised by a high degree of openness and presence between supervisor and supervisee it may become possible for the supervisee to experience all dimensions of their experience with the client. In such a supervision relationship the humanity that is at the core of the therapeutic encounter can be fully acknowledged and celebrated (2).

AIMS OF THE COURSE

The aim of this course is that on completion participants will feel sufficiently competent as person-centred supervisors to enter with confidence into supervision contracts with both experienced counsellors and counsellors in training. Integral to this aim are the following:

	that participants will attain a clear theoretical understanding of the processes implicit in the person-centred approach to supervision;
	that participants will develop further their understanding of person-centred theory;
	that participants will develop an awareness of ethical, theoretical and practical issues related to supervision;
	that participants will develop the ability to assess their own work in critical and non-defensive ways and will identify areas for further professional development.

COURSE STRUCTURE

The course will consist of:

	4 non-residential 2-day meetings of 15 hours each between October 2008 and May 2009, in Glasgow. These meetings will provide opportunities for intensive work on theoretical and professional issues related to person-centred supervision and for exploration of the participants’ experiences as supervisors;
	Small study groups, meeting at least once in between each course meeting, for a minimum of 10 hours throughout the course. The purpose of these groups is to maintain continuity with the course, to present and explore current issues in supervision practice and to provide a supportive background for the private study;
	Private study: in preparation for each meeting there will be an assignment on a topic relevant to supervision, chosen by the individual participant.

CONTENT

In the spirit of the person-centred tradition this course will draw on the experience and knowledge of the participants to explore professional, practical and theoretical issues and personal experience of supervision work and will offer practice, feedback and time for reflection and discussion. Some parts of the programme will be designed by the staff while others will be developed in consultation with the course group.

For the first meeting participants are asked to write a personal statement focusing on their motivation for the course, their experience as supervisors and supervisees, their strengths and weaknesses in this role and identifying issues of particular interest or concern in their supervision work.

Issues identified as “core content” will include:

	the core conditions of empathy, acceptance and congruence in relation to supervision;
	the theory of person-centred therapy;
	the person-centred approach to supervision: focus on the supervision relationship and relational depth;
	understanding and meeting diversity;
	ethical issues such as confidentiality, boundaries, differences between supervision and therapy; the BACP ‘Ethical Framework’;
	supervision process;
	supervision contracts;
	supervisor’s responsibility in relation to the supervisee and the client.

EXPERIENCE AS SUPERVISOR

It is a requirement for course participation that, before the start of the course, course members have established a supervision practice with at least two supervisees who are working as counsellors. This supervision practice should clearly be in the form of individual counselling supervision, and must be distinct from line-management or case-management supervision. In order to maximise support during this time of learning, participants are also encouraged to make arrangements for supervision for their supervision work.

ASSESSMENT

This is a self-assessed course. The course member, in consultation with other participants and staff, will make the final decision as to his or her theoretical and practical competence and future areas for development.

The self-assessment process will also be aided throughout the course by the assignments which will include written

work on theory, practice and ethics in supervision, as well as reflection on the course member’s learning and development.

The final step in the process will be the production of a written “assessment statement” which will include reference to the following:

	understanding of the theory of person-centred therapy;
	integration of this understanding in supervision work;
	the participant’s ability to conceptualise and describe his or her supervision work;
	attention to ethical issues;
	reflection on the development of the supervision relationship and on the supervision process;
	awareness and acknowledgement of diversity in counselling and supervision;
	reflection on the participant’s development and learning during the course;
	identification of strengths and of areas for further development.

This statement will be finalised during the last course meeting .

If at any time during the programme the staff have serious doubts about a participant’s work or ability to complete the course successfully, they will consult the participant privately.

The Person-Centred Therapy (Britain) Certificate will be awarded on completion of the course.

COURSE FEE

The course fee is £780, payable in two instalments of £260 (on 31^st October and 13th March). A non-refundable deposit of £260 is to be paid when a place on the course is accepted.

COURSE DATES AND LOCATION

The 4 non-residential meetings will be on 31st Oct+1st Nov 2008; 9+10 Jan 2009; 13+14 March 2009; 15+16 May 2009 The course venue is located in the centre of Glasgow, within easy reach of rail and bus stations.

SELECTION OF COURSE MEMBERS

Applications are welcome from person-centred counsellors trained to Diploma level in this approach. Applicants must have considerable experience as counsellors (minimum 450 hours). They are required to have a current supervised counselling practice as well as a supervision practice and to work within the BACP Ethical Framework for Counselling and Psychotherapy or the COSCA, or equivalent, Codes of Ethics and Practice for Counsellors and for Supervisors.

The suitability of applicants will in the first instance be judged on the basis of:

	the completed application form;
	one reference, to be enclosed with the application

In some cases applicants may be invited for an interview with the Course Director. If necessary this may be done by telephone. The number of participants will be limited to 20.

APPLICATIONS

The address for obtaining and remitting application forms is:

PCT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT,

40 KELVINGROVE STREET,

GLASGOW, G3 7RZ

Tel: 0141-354-0339

email: elke@elkelambers.com

website: www.elkelambers.com

STAFF

Elke Lambers: I have a private practice as a person-centred therapist, supervisor and trainer. As a co-director of PCT (Britain) I have been involved in the training of person-centred therapists since 1985 and in the training of person-centred supervisors since 1993.

I have a particular interest in developing a person-centred understanding of mental health and of ‘difficult client processes’ and in the development of theoretical understanding to support practice. My focus in supervision is to help the counsellor’s explore their own ‘developmental agenda’: to develop our capacity to be fully present and open with ourselves in the therapeutic relationship, so that they can be more open and present with the client.

Most of all, I see supervision as a relationship where the humanity of the therapist can be acknowledged and celebrated.

After 15 years this will be my final course- and I am delighted to work again with Alison Shoemark. We designed the original course together, and it seems fitting that we run this last one together.

Alison Shoemark: I have practiced as a counsellor since 1985 and as a supervisor since 1989. Currently, most of my work is university based and the balance is shared (not very evenly) between teaching, counselling, supervision and research. My background is in nursing, where I specialized in palliative care; my work with people facing death or living ’at the edge’ for some other reason has, more than anything, taught me to have a deep appreciation of life and of the value of striving for honest and genuine relationships. That, in itself, keeps me constantly close to challenging and questioning the meaning and impact of counselling, of supervision and of therapeutic relationships generally. I am very much looking forward to the course, to working together, to sharing and exploring some of the ‘stretching’ experiences that may be part of our practice.

References:

(1) Lambers, E. (2000). Supervision in Person-Centred Therapy: Facilitating Congruence. In: Mearns, D. and Thorne, B. Person-Centred Therapy Today: New Frontiers in Theory and Practice. London: Sage.

(2) Lambers, E. (2006). Supervising the Humanity of the Therapist. In: Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies, 5:4, 266-276.

(3) Lambers, E. (2007). A Person-Centred Perspective on Supervision. In Cooper, M., O’Hara, M, Schmid, P.F. & Wyatt, G. The Handbook of Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Counselling. Basingstoke: Palgrave.