My Journey to Becoming a Clinical Supervisor in WA
Have you ever wondered what past experiences clinical supervisors have had as a supervisee themselves?
Have you encountered a bad supervisor that was a barrier to your professional growth and advancement in the field?
Are you looking for a supervisor so you feel empowered, supported, and encouraged?
If you answered yes to those questions, this article is for you! Often times we are meeting supervisors where they are at in their current workplace setting, but don’t necessarily hear about what led them to this point. I wanted to offer this perspective by sharing my own journey with less-than-stellar supervisors on the way to becoming a clinical supervisor in WA State. Through these challenges, it’s helped inform my approach with associates so I don’t repeat the same choices or decisions my previous supervisors did with me.
“It’s never the patients”
One of my first jobs out of college was working at a behavioral health hospital as a recreation therapist. I was so excited to run leisure and coping groups and provide momentary joy for patients hospitalized, often times who were there for weeks to months on end. When I went back to school and completed my first MSW student practicum several years later, I was placed in a PACT (Program for Community Assertive Treatment) helping clients reduce hospital and jail recidivism. My advanced practicum was at a voluntary inpatient behavioral health unit helping with discharge planning and connecting patients to community resources. Post-grad I worked for a few years at another local inpatient unit managing a caseload of 11 patients with various behavioral health needs. All these jobs were stressful and contributed to burnout, but it was never because of the patients. While some were more challenging than others, they were doing their best under distressing circumstances. What made the work environment the hardest and the common thread from all these settings most always stemmed from a lack of support from my supervisors.
After having bad supervisor after bad supervisor in various mental health settings since completing undergrad, I had a good sense of what I needed and what was missing. I craved for genuine support: a supervisor that would actually listen to my needs and not just validate me, but make a plan to problem solve and take action. Words only went so far when there were things I was asking for to make the work environment better for colleagues and myself, to improve patient care, and to better advocate for social workers in general. Ever since then, I wanted to be a clinical supervisor to support associates and help lift them up in this difficult line of work and create a healthy environment for them to explore their own skills and growing pains, and leave them feeling excited, motivated, and more confident clinicians.
A deeper dive into inpatient behavioral health and community mental health as a supervisee
In the first inpatient setting, I was working as a recreation therapist, and my supervisor created a passive aggressive work environment that had me on edge with high anxiety anytime he wanted to talk to me. I would get texts in the evenings after work letting me know we needed to talk the next day that sent me into a spiral. Each time he would enter our office, he would let out deep exasperated sighs, with the subtle, yet not so subtle hint of “ask me what’s wrong,” clearly not setting up a dynamic for being able to check-in or get support if I needed it. I found myself in role reversal having to support and cater to him and take his side for frustrations he was experiencing, which was extremely unhealthy and inappropriate.
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In my first-year practicum in community mental health, my SW supervisor left after the first quarter and things felt disorganized and lacked direction. They had no structure for my role and threw me into uncomfortable situations before I was prepared or ready. From tossing me off to different staff each shift who had no plan for what to do with a social work student, to frequently making plans for observing specific site visits for exposure and learning, only for those to be cancelled last minute, it got my hopes up that I would be able to meet many goals in this setting.
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During my second placement on a BHU, my SW supervisor created a rigid work environment, and I found her to be unaccommodating of basic needs I had. Rather than highlighting my strengths, she nitpicked little things that were inconsequential, like having me adjust my documentation and replacing words that were synonyms with one another just because she liked them better. It was ironic because in our interview, we had fantastic rapport and I thought she seemed organized, patient, and compassionate. I’m not sure if I missed some cues at the time, but one of the biggest draws to that practicum site was the support she seemed to provide, having come from two previous negative experiences. However, I quickly realized that my read was incorrect, and this added to bad supervisor #3.
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Finally, at the last hospital I was at post-MSW, my manager gave me mostly lip service, something that was covered up by what I thought was encouragement in the moment, and later realized she never intended to take action with my ideas or advocacy. While I wanted to think she cared about my needs, she ignored all my efforts to advocate for improvements to patient care or social work burnout. I constantly felt unappreciated and unsupported. I stayed for three years building my hours towards licensure, and in my final year, I had a goal to supervise an MSW advanced practicum student.
From supervising an MSW practicum student to associates in private practice and crisis settings
I worked diligently to get this request approved and find a way to support my student, while completing my regular duties and responsibilities at the hospital. I wanted this opportunity to provide a student with a supportive and encouraging learning environment that I didn’t have in my previous work experiences and practicum settings. Supervising my student gave me so much perspective on how to facilitate safe spaces for reflecting, discussing growth, and going over feedback using a strengths-based approach. Creating the balance of giving direct feedback on things to improve or work on, while still maintaining rapport was not without challenges as a first time supervisor. However, I leaned into creating space for open discussion and hear what my student was needing and how I could best support them, which ultimately went a long way with their growth and development.
Now that I’m offering clinical supervision in my private practice, it’s a pleasure to support associates who are seeking an encouraging, positive, and collaborative environment for growth and clinical development. I thoroughly enjoy seeing associates go from environments where they aren’t comfortable advocating for their needs, to being able to speak up for themselves in an effort to meet their goals, with increasing clinical hours to caseload management to setting boundaries with clients. Even in a short period of working together, I’ve seen supervisees build more confidence in crisis assessment or knowing which interventions to use with clients. It gives them a sense of accomplishment seeing them gain more skills in a space that focuses on building on their strengths, while also having room for growth and two-way feedback.
With the lens coming from crisis work in higher level of care and inpatient hospital settings, I understand how to support associate supervisees who are working in similar environments, as well as those who are in private practice who are seeking a supervisor that can help assess, safety plan, and navigate the complex mental health challenges that can sometimes be overlooked in the screening process or turn up later when clients get triggered. Supervisees want competence in these areas and want to feel prepared to handle who is on their caseload. Working with a supervisor that has a background in these areas can be instrumental in the difference between your client getting appropriate care at the right time, and symptoms worsening that are much harder to come back from. And if you’ve had your fair share of bad supervisors, it doesn’t have to be like this! You can get your hours AND have a meaningful learning experience where you are truly supported along the way.
Getting the support your need for growing your clinical skills
My process is goal-oriented, so I get to know the setting you’re in and types of clients you’re seeing. I hear about your strengths and challenges and goals you’re wanting to tackle, while also helping clarify ones that I’m hearing you speak about, but may not be able to articulate quite yet. It can also be helpful having a safe outlet to process frustrations and concerns coming up, as I am an outside supervisor, not attached to your agency, group practice, or other work setting, and have your best interest in mind. I genuinely want you to succeed and not just check off your hours requirements without anything to show. This is a huge investment of time, energy, and money by pursuing licensure, and therefore, it’s crucial you feel like you are learning and benefiting from supervision. If this resonates with you, please feel free to visit my clinical supervision page to learn more, and reach out for a free consultation to see if we’d be a good fit!
Hi, I’m Michelle Solomon, owner of Roots of Compassion Therapy!
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. I come with over 10 years of experience in the mental health field. In my practice, I provide virtual therapy all across WA and in-person walk and talk sessions in South Seattle for adults with bipolar disorder, burned out healthcare workers and professionals, and family mental health caregivers. I also offer clinical supervision for associates and professional consulting for therapists on complex and high-risk cases, as well as workshops for mental health organizations. I look forward to connecting with you soon!