Judge a therapist by his/her QUESTIONS rather than by his/her answers

Why Might You Want To Use These Supervisory Cards?

• To cultivate greater, deeper connections to the work
• To present ideas of various themes to your supervisees as separate but maybe interlinked processes
• To move beyond the basics to deepen the supervisee's and your own insight about certain tricky themes/issues
• To increase your confidence and courage as a supervisor by bringing these sometimes hard questions into a session
• To dig down into some important supervision themes you and the supervisee may be struggling with
• To assist the supervisory process rather than running away from it

Overall, they're designed to be used as a way to support you and your supervisees through the supervision process, to raise awareness of certain behaviours/themes/issues. They're not designed to take over the supervision process but could be used alongside or as a starting point.

Practical Suggestions on HOW to use your Supervisory Cards

Suggestions for use with INDIVIDUALS

There's no right or wrong way to "use" these resource cards, but there is potential towards what supervisees might learn from simply seeing the question/statement in black and white. Being open to observing feelings, responses and reactions could shine a light on areas that are maybe hiding in the shadows. This, in turn, could offer an opportunity for supervisees and yourself to consider working through and facing these potential shadows.

The cards have been designed to be suitable for a variety of uses, and you may want to adapt and use them in your own natural way to suit your specific supervisees. However, if you are unsure of this, below highlights possible examples of how to use them.

Possible Ways Of Working With The CARDS

Ask supervisees to hold the card in their hand (or just to remember the one they've chosen). Close their eyes and take 3 deep breaths. Repeat the question/statement (silently or aloud) to themselves (say a minimum of 3 times), aiming to sustain awareness and connection to the words and their breath. (It's completely understandable if the mind tends to want to wander off, that's ok, just to try to gently bring it back on task). When they're ready, aim to move further emotionally into the feelings/thoughts that might be hovering. Stay with the present situation and explore possibilities to delve deeper into the supervision process. Follow up in the next session if relevant.

Suggestions for use with GROUPS

These cards can be very powerful in a supervision group setting as prompts for discussion and sharing. Although the cards could work well with any supervision group, you may like to choose the specific ones that are most relevant to the needs of your particular group.

Using these cards might work really well with more established groups, where supervisees are familiar with each other and feel they're in a "safe" place to share. You might also want to remind the group of any guidelines you've discussed when using them, e.g. respecting everyone's experience/ feeling etc. This group reflection activity may start with supervisees randomly picking a card. Other times you may want to lay the cards out, with the question side up in a central place (e.g. on a table or the floor in the centre). You might encourage group members to look at the cards and choose one that represents something to them. For example; it might include choosing a card that surrounds something they'd like to work on or something that feels difficult for them to understand/believe/talk about.

You might want to encourage the group members to write something down or to think about their card (for say 5 mins) and then to share their thoughts, reflections and ideas. As a facilitator, your aim might be to encourage discussions, aiming not to jump in too often, or to provide "answers".

The overall aim might include ensuring everyone has a turn to speak. At the end of the activity, you could (if necessary) also provide a bit of a summary and encourage the group members to provide some feedback about what the experience was like for them. This may expand into highlighting anything they've learned, thought or felt during the whole experience.

Whether you use these cards for individual or group supervisees, you have a chance to build self-awareness and self-reflection around common supervisory themes/issues, leading to valuable and rewarding spaces.

Click add to cart to start using these unique THOUGHT PROVOKING supervisory cards.