Clinical Supervision

Throughout my entire life I have been told that I would make a great teacher. Coming from a family of educators, I was inspired by their chosen career path and found myself aligned with their personalities, hopes and dreams for the future. I also aspired to help others in a different way, and was always fascinated by becoming a therapist. Obtaining a masters degree and pushing myself academically was also very important to me, and I hated the idea of being forced to make a decision about which career path I would choose.In the early 2010’s I began my undergraduate career studying nutrition and family studies at Brescia University College with the hopes of being a nutrition teacher or perhaps a therapist who specialized in disordered eating. Upon graduation, I made the decision to pursue a Bachelor of Education at the University of Western Ontario and found myself happy as I enjoyed my studies and practical experience in the field. Bright eyed and eager after graduation, I quickly found myself disappointed as I endured a very dismal job market for teachers.

Rather than accepting defeat, I decided to pivot and continue my education by applying for my Masters in Counselling Psychology. Throughout my time completing my masters degree, I worked as a supply teacher and as a student clinician at a local non-profit counselling agency in London Ontario. While exposing myself to both career options simultaneously, I realized that I no longer needed to face a dichotomous decision… I didn’t have to pick one career or the other. Not only did I discover that I could do both, but I LOVED doing both! I realized how helpful my training in education was for me as a therapist, and how helpful my training as a therapist was for my career a teacher.

Being logical, organized and efficient are personality traits that have been bred into me from generations of educators and type-A perfectionists. With this in mind, I tend to gravitate towards Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Solutions Focused approaches in my own clinical work. They are comfortable for me, partly because of the common sense and clear principles that are oriented within these approaches. I also find that the clients I typically work with, who typically present with anxiety, lack of self esteem, body image issues and/or disordered eating really benefit from this modality. With the support and inspiration of my own supervisor, I am also known to use an Emotion Focused Therapeutic lens to discuss other issues deeper than the cognitive preoccupation with body shape and weight. Although this modality of practice aligns with my own comfort levels, I am continuously open minded to other theoretical orientations and welcome different perspectives on treatment.

It is my hope that I can continue the cycle of wonderful supervision that I have received in the past. I view supervision as a sustained, purposeful interaction between a more experienced clinician and a less experienced clinician. The act of supervision is integral in order to support the clinical and professional development of the less experienced, or learning clinician and improves their clinical effectiveness. My background and experience in both teaching and counselling psychology has led me to a path of providing clinical supervision as a way to give back to the profession and inspire new psychotherapists as they embark on the art and science that is counselling psychology.