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September 24, 2008

Further thoughts...

Further thoughts from Passionate Supervision...

"What aspects of your supervision do you find it most difficult to contract around? How do you use professional boundaries to protect yourself from having to explore and possibly change these?" (David Owen).

What continues to intrigue me in working as a supervisor, is the need for and significance of the high level of trust and confidence in the relationship from and between both of us.

I realise that it can be a delicate balance to support and be present on the one hand, and at the same time acknowledge my own limitations or enjoyment as a fellow practitioner. Here are two areas that I notice can emerge during supervision.

The first is when I think that we are moving into an area where they may be better served with therapy, as I am not a qualified psychotherapist. I believe that it is imperative to share and discuss this with a supervisee. At the same time, there is the potential for my declaration to appear to undermine their confidence in me. I am acting in what I believe are their best interests. So, how do I contain their anxiety that they themselves may not be able to cope if I'm not there to contain their vulnerability? So, I continue to reflect on how best to acknowledge and share my limitations. I am concerned for my clients' well-being. At the same time, I wonder whether there may be the possibility that in suggesting an alternative/additional practitioner, that I may be shattering some idealisation they may have of me.

Many of my clients are involved in both coaching and OD projects within the one client organisation. Another predicament that I have found myself in is when I may become over-exuberant or express my personal enthusiasm for this type of work, when we explore possible interventions. This can potentially undermine their self-confidence. So, I need to be mindful of when and how I might share my enjoyment of this particular work.

Posted by Alison at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2008

Transformative supervision

I'm reading from Passionate Supervision, edited by Robin Shohet, and in one chapter by David Owen he invites us to reflect on the following questions:

"If supervision were to be more transformative than it currently is for you, how would you need to change, how would your supervisor be different, and how might your professional organisation alter in its view of the provision of supervision?"

Owen highlights the significance of what he describes as "transformative supervision", where rather than concentrating on getting everyone up to a certain level, here is an opportunity to tap into the potential of the individual to excel beyond the norm, or for them to take the risks of being different.

As I read the chapter, I reflected on my own practice as a supervisor. Am I stuck in certain modes – e.g. an educative or supportive mode? How do I feel about being a "transformative supervisor"? And what does this look, sound and feel like? What feedback do I need to invite from my clients that will enable us both to shift and learn and grow? And as I write I realise that we could spend more time reflecting on our joint process of working together, rather than necessarily reviewing the client work specifically.

I was with a supervisee the other day and we explored some of these questions. It was challenging and exciting, and my sense is that I need to reflect further on our dialogue and revisit this when we meet again.

Posted by Alison at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2008

Looking for a London venue for a workshop

The past couple of weeks have been pretty frustrating because I'm putting together a Creativity Workshop with a friend and we've been trying to find a venue that doesn't cost "too much", by which I mean, costs less than £250!

Now I know that is probably a bit of an ask in and around central London, so we didn't aim too high and started with universities, rehearsal rooms, church halls, yoga/therapy centres and we've finally decided on the Gestalt Centre near Old Street.

My reflections on this subject and after recent experience...

> What would we do without the internet now?
> What would we do without Google or equivalent?
> I guess there may be a Venues Directory for London, but we didn't find it
> And however good the written description, come the crunch, we needed to go and see the venues to get a feel for their atmosphere, what the space looked like, and do they serve teas and coffees!

For further information about our event, The Creative Touch, have a look here and you'll find more information and booking details. It's going to be on 19 November 2008.

Posted by Alison at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2008

Is e-dialogue an oxymoron?

As I'm sure is the case for many of us now, I belong to a number of groups and committees and periodically we engage in a "discussion" via email. I put "discussion" in inverted commas because I'm musing on my own experience of engaging in these exchanges, or not, as the case may be.

What I find is that as different members of a group present their opinion or thoughts about a particular issue, I read and consider it, I might agree or disagree with it, and then I move on to the next email or task. I then return to the email discussion, re-read the messages and I notice that I experience a variety of thoughts and feelings that get in the way of me participating and responding.

So what stops me from participating either by adding my acknowledgement or agreement or alternative thought/idea?

> Sometimes people have said all that needs to be said and a reply to that effect seems superfluous, even though I say it to myself.

> Sometimes I disagree but can't or don't find the words to present my view in a way that acknowledges the contribution from others.

> If I'm irritated by an opinion or tone from a contributor it feels safer to say nothing – my passive aggression rising to the fore.

> Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the eloquence of the contributor and am silenced by this. A little voice mutters that I can't express myself so well or my view isn't as "good" as the one expressed.

> Sometimes there's what I describe as the "apathy response" when I don't do anything. For me this is partly fuelled by the actual process of exchanging messages electronically when there seems to be little human interaction and I can't hear participants' voices – I'm highly auditory and kinaesthetic. Another element of this is that if others don't respond to me, I can't see the point, especially when I experience a feeling of "I'm not being heard".

So, on reflection, I imagine that my experience may be representative.

I applaud the capability of email at times and wonder what we did without it. However, I'm going to continue to explore the nature of "e-dialogue" and experiment with different ways of engaging in the process to see whether I can find some ways to improve my experience of it so I get more from the groups that I'm a member of and hopefully contribute more fruitfully for others.

Posted by Alison at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)