This overarching theme was prevalent in four out of the seven participants and seems in part relevant to length of time that the FSKWs have been engaging supervision with an EP for, adding to the uniqueness of these findings. This theme is notably intertwined with the previous themes already discussed, in that the experience of ‘a safe relationship’ is built upon and reinforced over time, creating the space for the deeper exploration of the changing self over time, and that learning is also a process that ensues over time.
Supervision with an EP over an extended period takes on a significant role in the bridging of Eleni’s identity over time. Eleni speaks of a particular EP supervisor when she first started having supervision and after having supervision with other EP supervisors, she was now being supervised by this same EP supervisor again. In the time in between, Eleni spoke of having a major illness and how the EP supervisor was aware of that time she was off work and how she was during her recovery where she
•Time •Across time •Bridging of identity •Movements in time
Movement
within time
had to re-learn some fundamental skills. Supervision with this current EP plays an important role in bridging the person she was who the EP knew before this event, with the person she is now:
“…because of how long I’ve known [EP] is that [EP], reminds me of different things that I knew, and because part of what I had, you do, you do forget certain things, but, [EP]’s done that during our supervision, reminded me, well you used to do that, and remember this and remember that, and that’s allowed me to go over a lot of things…” (Eleni, p. 15).
This bridging of her identity over time was also apparent when Eleni was asked about whether she viewed this relationship to change over time, and she saw herself as both consistent over time and as someone who has changed:
“I don’t think I’ve changed that (emphasis) much in how I come to the meeting, actually…I still talk about things in the same way, I just think if anything, my own experience has grown, in a lot of ways, so I can talk about things very differently now at meetings and understand things differently, um, sorry what was the question again?” (Eleni, p. 7).
Forgetting the question seemed to parallel what she had said earlier about forgetting her skills following this illness and then later, she adds that the EP supervisor would also have changed, but taken to a more extreme level, of being another person.
“…I just think, you’ve changed as well, I’ve, I’ve changed, you develop over time, you develop new skills, um that would be the same for [EP], you know, [EP]’s another person…” (Eleni, p. 19).
The fluctuation between being fairly consistent in her own identity yet projecting on to the EP supervisor that they might be another person, seems to reflect how this significant life event still challenges her own identity. The role of the supervisory
relationship then, through continuity, is in part, that of bridging her past and present identity.
Georgia experiences movement within an academic year, that of a cyclical annual pattern:
“…it’s usually the middle one…[…]…which is usually offloading around…[…]….and then, the next one next term’s usually, quite clunky cos you got all new caseload, new families…[…]…and it’s the one in the middle that’s kind of generally a bit more, reflective about the things that have, that were worrying you before …[…]…cos our job goes in a cycle, I suppose, supervision tends to go in that, that cycle as well…[…]…there’s, there’s two where I’ve got things where I go with a list, and there’s probably one in the middle, where I’m reflecting on what’s happened (laughing) and planning what’s coming, um, yeah.” (Georgia, p. 15-16).
Within this cycle, Georgia seems to experience supervision with an EP as a punctuation point in time where she often uses the opportunity to look back, revisit things, as well as looking ahead and planning for the future. She speaks about this occurring across the year, but also about doing this between supervision sessions:
“…I keep (laughs), I do keep thinking back to actually the conversations that we’d had around it, um, and then, you start as you get nearer to the next one, you start thinking about actually what you’re gonna, what you, you’ve got to feedback on how things have changed and, and how you’re gonna move forward again.” (Georgia, p. 12).
Supervision with an EP therefore provides a space for reflection and processing of the past as well as preparation for the future. This continual alternation between looking back and looking forward may be related to her variable anticipation of supervision distorting her sense of time lapsing since the last supervision session. This momentum might be disrupted, should the appointments change too often.
For Christine, supervision with an EP has a role in providing continuity through remembering things said, reflecting back and thinking what to bring next time:
“…I like to review things with [EP], to kind of talk about, well this is what happened with that, so we kind of follow a thread through sometimes about a particular situation so that, um, it, it, it brings it to a close, or a conclusion, so that you can move on from it and then there’s something else…” (Christine, p. 20).
This continuity also provides a role in being able to mark the movement from closure of one issue towards opening up the next priority, or as Barbara named them, “burning issues” (p. 4).
For Barbara, time makes a significant contribution in changing how she views both supervision with an EP and herself:
“…I suppose, I don’t see it as criticism, I see it as support and help now, whereas I think maybe in the very early days I might have felt, oh ok, hm, do you know what I mean, but I think maybe that’s about me and my role, I’ve grown and understood and I’m…[…]…years older now and huh (laughs) do you know what I mean?” (Barbara, p. 13).
Barbara’s reference to changing her view of supervision from a more critical stance to a more supportive stance follows on from a description around supervision with an EP helping her think about where a child was developmentally. Similarly, Barbara views herself in age, as well as her perceptions, to also be on a developmental journey. A comment shortly after this of “I wish sometimes it was a bit longer” (p. 18) may well reflect a wish to spend more time for supporting herself on this developmental journey. Supervision with an EP therefore has a role in supporting her on her own developmental journey and concurrently changing her perceptions over time. This
demonstrates how her personal development over time relates to the previous super- ordinate theme of ‘exploring new perspectives’ under the overarching theme, ‘a learning space’.