5 tips for securing a clinical supervisor

So you’ve just completed your graduate counseling or social work program, one or multiple internships, an 8 hour writing exam to give you the right to say you specialize in ANYTHING and/or a lengthy capstone project. Now begins the journey to licensure--yes, after all that you still have about 2 more years of schlepping ahead of you…

To aid you through the next hurdle (and to corroborate your story that you actually did it, hehe), you need to secure a clinical supervisor. This stage feels like some professional limbo or twilight zone because on the one hand, you are interviewing to see who is the best fit for you, while on the other hand also secretly hoping and wishing that they like you as well. Here are a few tips I picked up in my journey to secure a clinical supervisor.

1. Start with your current employer. If you are already working in the field and in a position to accrue direct contact hours, a lot of times these employers provide supervision to registered clinicians. Oh, and it’s usually FREE! If you’re pursuing private practice and currently applying for part-time employment, you may be lucky enough to kill two birds with one stone by finding an agency where you can accrue hours and that also offers supervision.

2. Ask your colleagues. Classmates and co-workers always prove to be a rich source of information. My classmates and I all completed our program 3 to 5 years ago; but we still maintain group text chats,meet for brunch routinely, AND have a private facebook group. In our facebook group we post new job opportunities, celebrate our career milestones, and reach out to each other for advice or different resources; this was one of the first places I turned when I opened my private practice and, as always, they did not disappoint.

3. Join and consult your profession’s local and national associations. As a marriage and family therapist, the AAMFT (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy) website and membership has been a great resource. By joining I now have access to scientific journals, discounted benefits such as insurance and documentation forms, and a database of Approved MFT clinical supervisors. The database allows you to search by city, state or zip and by clicking on a name in the list, you can view a profile to get basic info before contacting the clinician.

4. Psychology Today (aka Ole Faithful). Psychology today is a “twofer”. By joining you can advertise your own services and also search for a clinical supervisor by selecting “supervision” under “types of therapy”.

5. Online supervision is an official thing. During a moment of defeat, I suddenly got an email that seemed to be the answer to my nagging question “Who will be my supervisor?”. Motivo is a HIPAA-compliant website that partners with associations like AAMFT to make the process of securing and participating in supervision so much easier. The staff was amazing and reached out to me right away. Not to mention, you can browse clinical supervisors closest to you and set up a free video-call consultation to speak directly with the Motivo staff and clinicians.

**As a word of advice, be mindful of your profession and state’s guidelines concerning: what constitutes as supervision (face-to-face, in person, telephone, etc); procedures before supervision is officially initiated; and the allowed frequency of online/virtual supervision. You want to be sure that your hours are legitimate and accepted by your state board when submitting your paperwork for licensure.

Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor :)

#counselors #therapy #supervision #clinicalsupervision #registeredtherapist #marriageandfamilytherapy