Clinical Supervision Competencies and Best Practices

The complexity of clinical supervision is evident in the numerous roles and responsibilities of supervisors. Clinical supervisors’ contributions are invaluable as they invest time, energy, and expertise in fostering the professional growth and development of supervisees while simultaneously attending to the welfare of the clients of supervisees, protection of the public at large, professional gatekeeping, and promoting public regard for the counselling/psychotherapy profession. Clinical supervisors draw on knowledge and skill from the domains of both counselling/psychotherapy and clinical supervision, as they support and guide supervisees in the provision of caring, confident, and competent counselling/psychotherapy. Cultivating competency and best practices fulfill the ethical imperative of safeguarding the wellbeing of clients and the public while concurrently promoting professional growth and development of supervises.

Blythe Shepard, PhD, CT (#1087), CCC (#4714), CCS

Blythe Shepard, PhD, CT, CCC, CCS is President Emerita of Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) having served on the Board and Executive for 10+ years. Blythe recently retired as a counsellor educator from the University of Lethbridge but continues to teach the CCPA supervision course through the University. From 2009 to 2011, she co-chaired the National Symposium on Counsellor Mobility and worked on the BC Task Group (now FACTBC) responsible for the creation and revision of entry to practice competencies for counsellors. She has co-led many CCPA initiatives on supervision, including the CCS designation and the CCPA Clinical Supervision Competency Framework project. She is co-editor of the CCPA published books, Clinical Supervision of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Profession and co-editor of Clinical Supervision Vignettes, and author of the CCPA handbook on Clinical Supervision. Blythe’s favourite supervision activity is as  Director of Supervision for the CES Chapter, running the Circle of Practice of Clinical Supervision.