Did you know the EMCC UK website holds a treasure trove of supervision-themed blogs? Over recent years, we’ve published many thought-provoking articles on supervision from a diverse range of practitioners. Paul Heardman, our Director for Supervision Practice, highlights here what you can find in our back catalogue.
We are all bombarded with more content these days than we can cope with. The relentless flood on social media makes it easy to miss what’s truly interesting. So we’ve collated for you here an overview of EMCC UK’s catalogue of short, yet insightful, blogs on supervision – in case you missed these the first time round.
I began my role as EMCC UK’s first ever Director for Supervision Practice in early 2023. One of my initial hopes was to offer a platform for provocative and practitioner-focused blogs, not just for supervisors, but also to help coaches and mentors gain more value from the supervision process.
Since then, we have published a stream of really high-quality blogs, each exploring different aspects of supervision. Maybe you’ve spotted some in our regular EMCC UK monthly newsletters. And perhaps there were others you didn’t see or just didn’t have time to read.
Below is an overview of some superb highlights from our virtual library. We wanted to offer you a second chance to catch any which got away. We’ve organised these under three broad themes, to make it easy to spot ones of interest.
And a disclaimer: all views offered are, of course, the contributors’ own, and do not necessarily reflect EMCC thinking or official EMCC guidance.
Supervision for coaches and mentors is a young profession, and is still evolving on many fronts. The blogs in this section explore the edges of current practice, expanding our understanding of where supervision may be heading:
Diversity and Inclusion in supervision is an important lens we continue to learn more about. Myira Khan shares her views on anti-oppressive supervision. She invites us to acknowledge structural and systemic inequalities and how they show up in relational dynamics. And Myira offers three practical tips and some reflective questions for supervisors.
Mental health and wellbeing issues are also high on the agenda in supervision. How do we hold these topics appropriately when working in a non-therapeutic frame? Julia Robinson explores how trauma shows up in coaching supervision, including offering her distinction of working in the presence of trauma rather than with the trauma itself. Katie Crabtree highlights the value of education, self-care, community and ongoing CPD for supervisors in this space. Katie also generously curated an EMCC UK resource bank of materials for supervisors on mental health and wellbeing which you can access here.
Mental health and wellbeing resources for coaching supervision
Supervision for mentors remains, strangely, a hugely neglected topic across the profession. If you’ve ever wondered why this might be important, I encourage you to read these three illuminating pieces from Nicci Statham, Heidi Thomas and Christopher McLaverty.
Research in supervision is also still underdeveloped. How much do we really know about what works? Jeremy Lewis highlights research on how it is surprisingly common for coaches to report poor experiences in supervision. Jeremy shares his NEEDS framework, a new way for supervisors to intervene with greater intention in sessions.
Much of what is written about supervision is by supervisors for supervisors. At EMCC UK, we’ve sought to remedy that by making space also for the supervisee perspective:
Group supervision can be a great way for coaches to feel less isolated, as Sandra Wilson explores. She unpacks different types of group supervision and how coaches or mentors can get most value from it, not least in learning from other group members.
Peer supervision can also be an invaluable support for practitioners, as Liz Cox shares. Drawing on her own experience of being part of a peer supervision group for more than a decade, Liz outlines what helps peer groups thrive and what to watch out for.
How to be a supervisee is a topic often neglected on training programmes. These three blogs from Jeffrey Wotherspoon, Crystal Small and Mia O’Gorman each offer tips on what to expect from supervision and how to prepare. Jeffrey shares powerful insights he gained through supervision around uniqueness and authenticity. Crystal offers a metaphorical take on why supervision is much more than a ‘nice to have’. And Mia outlines her experience on what supports preparation, including when ‘not preparing’ is the best preparation.
Supervision is often about working with the unknown. And one great way to explore the unknown can be through the power of play and creativity, as these blogs demonstrate:
A hands-on approach – Paul Sanbar explores how LEGO can be a ‘handy’ addition to the supervision space, opening access to childlike qualities of wonder, creativity and imagination.
Inviting art into supervision – Beth McManus offers practical tips and ethical guardrails for making the most of art-based approaches in supervision, including visits to art galleries.
Heron’s framework in supervision – Yvette Elcock outlines how Heron’s model can be adapted for supervision, helping us notice more about connections between our intention as supervisors, the interventions we offer and how these may impact supervisees.
If you have made it this far, I hope something in the above may pique your interest. Happy reading!
My deep thanks to everyone who has contributed a supervision-themed blog over the last few years. The full catalogue is available here:
And also see all our supervision resources here:
And finally, a big shout out to our small but mighty EMCC UK marketing team – Rosie and Simon – who ensure all our supervision content is presented for you in such a professional way.
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