Transfer of learning event E – learning event in supervision

their attempt to have the client become future focused in the previous analogue

counselling session, while initially awkward and badly timed, was eventually productive. The supervisor gave an assessment that some mistakes in counselling have the potential of being beneficial to the counselling process and the supervisee felt validated by this. The supervisee described that this change in perspective on making mistakes in therapy resulted in them feeling more relieved, curious and excited that this might transform how they worked as a therapist in general, in particular when working with more experienced clients. This experience also reminded the supervisee of literature they had read

previously about making therapy unexpected at times.

Rather than create a specific plan to transfer learning from supervision into the counselling session, the supervisee reflected on how they normally transfer their learning from supervision into counselling, which involves the supervisee first processing and then internalising information. This results in a change in the supervisee’s attitude, their

thinking and their way of being, which allows the supervisee become more spontaneous in the counselling session. The supervisee’s intention in the next counselling session was to be less concerned about making mistakes and to be more engaged in the therapeutic

process. The supervisor suggested the supervisee follow through with interventions, even when the supervisee might experience them as being difficult.

The supervisor observed that the outcome of the supervisee’s intervention resulted in handing control back to the client, an intervention suggested to the supervisee in the third supervision session. During learning event E, the supervisee also reported the supervisor’s facilitation during supervision enabled the supervisee to clarify their

hypothesis. This resulted in the supervisee feeling more grounded and more confident in ‘holding’ the client in the next counselling session.

The supervisor speculated the supervisee’s desire to have interventions well formulated before delivering them might reflect the supervisee’s stage of professional development (for some more details see Table 3.29).

Table 3.29

Transfer of learning event E – learning event in supervision 5th Analogue supervision session

SVE. ... ‘what are we going to do with the sessions, and what might ...you ...like to take...forward to another setting’ ...I said that quite explicitly, and it just generated this whole concern. Now it ended up as a useful ...it went in a useful direction, but it was definitely not my finest moment.

SV ... if you do get an intervention, ... if it does go slightly pear shaped it can be quite useful as well, as long as it’s not downright kind offensive to a client...

SV. ...I think it’s the psychoanalysts would say ‘there’s no mistakes’. So I mean even if you make a mistake and something comes out half wrong or slightly not the way you want, I think sometimes that can be quite fruitful ...it throws up quite interesting parts to it SV. but I think it’s also for you as a therapist, to have the confidence ...that even if it comes out slightly wonky, not to (gestures pulling back,) ye know (laughs)

SVE. ... absolutely ... and I mean sometimes I’d be a bit cautious for fear of saying something wrong, but that was certainly a learning for me in terms of the ... potential value in it, as long as you... deal with the ...aftermath respectfully and well and therapeutically...

SV. ...yeah, and also because it’s not what clients expect sometimes and particularly when you have ... somebody who is a therapy veteran, it can be quite a good one at times. Not that you would always do it, but ... something coming out, half kind of not the way you want and still owning it, and still ...carrying on, even though half way through you might know ‘uh oh’(laughs). I think it does slightly elicit something different back which I think can be quite useful.

SVE. it did,...I got to the point of saying ok, I can’t figure this out on my own, I did own that, and say yes I am concerned because I have no idea what it is that’s being kept safe...

SV. and if you had hypothesised what do you think it is that she’s keeping safe?(pause) SVE . I mean for me it’s definitely stuff around emotions and feelings, and ...it’s around vulnerability with emotions and feelings, (pause) and the asking for her feelings to be heard, understood, seen and accepted.

Supervisee perspective (4th BSR interview) Supervisor perspective (4th BSR interview)

SVE. ... there were there were two main things ...I felt ...genuinely validated

...and I was taking away a new perspective ...on mistakes and ...working with therapy veterans... SVE. ...so making a mistake isn’t necessarily a mistake, or doing something badly isn’t

necessarily a mistake, so it was, ...definitely ...a little bit of relief ... curiosity and... almost a little bit of ...excitement about what that could mean

SV. ...because of (supervisee) ...being finished her training. I think a lot of her...interventions and questions are very ...formulated. ...she doesn’t ask a question until she ...has it well set in her head... because she was worried in the last session about something coming out and not well. SV. ...when something comes out not

for doing therapy?

SVE. ...this could ...transform how I work! SVE. ...what we were talking through in supervision ...led me to see the fact that it was badly done, was a big part of what led to the productive piece.

SVE. ...and it made me more authentic, it got a really authentic response from her, which was ...in the moment of what was happening for her, so the ... fact that I had done something badly had been beneficial.

SVE. and it reminded me of having read stuff before ...that the... therapy needs to be a bit unexpected ...

SVE ...the sense of explicitly going in with the intention of being less concerned about making mistakes ... and more just getting in there with what was coming up for me, not in a shotgun way, but ...helpful.

SVE ... the process of being facilitated to talk it through, of having her (supervisor) ...

reflecting back some of what I was saying, really clarified my thinking ... on the whole

hypothesis...

SVE. ...so the spontaneous responses that I might have been otherwise suppressing, were being really informed by all of this thinking and then they were coming out,

SVE ...in the (counselling) session ...which is how I work best with supervision ...if I ...take something from supervision, and then ...say it in the (counselling) session, that rarely works for me

SVE whereas if I process stuff and

...internalise it, so ...taking a different way of being it works for me ...in my thinking, in my...attitude, in my formulation, as opposed to having a specific plan of this is what I’m going to do ...that’s what works well for me

SVE. ... when I go into a session with clarity, I feel more grounded.

SVE. And more secure, in being able to hold the session and hold the client...

well ...unless it’s ...downright offensive or unethical ...if... it’s a question you formulated ... you say it in the wrong way, or ...get it the wrong way around ...sometimes, that actually can elicit things from clients that you’re not actually expecting ...they actually take a half formed question, and they fill in the gaps, and they will throw back something that is pertinent to them.

SV. ...we had talked ...in the previous session (3rd supervision session), about things coming out not the right way around, and ...at times it can be ...empowering of a client, because then they ...take control and say ‘what do you mean?’...

SV. ...she had actually done it in the ...previous session ...and felt very anxious ...and was worried about ...how the client would perceive her. In this session it was very different. She’d done it and she realized that she was getting more back. So you could see that she had actually begun to use it and not be concerned about herself so much...

SV. ... I think it’s partly about being comfortable in that ‘not knowing’ ...position

SV. ...I thought that she was quite engaged by the ideas ...

SV. ... I think she recognized that if she gets into that position again, it’s not going to be as frightening. It may be easier to work through it.

SV. ...I think... (supervisee) ...has a very well developed ...hypothesis, and ...is... able to ...slot things in, to develop it...

3.6.1.2 Transfer of learning event E - counselling session context. During their sixth