WHY YOU CAN BENEFIT FROM SUPERVISION

YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

Counselling

Therapy YOUR WORK LIFE

S U P E R V I S I O N

YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE

Spiritual

Direction

Why you can benefit from Supervision

by SUSAN MARCUCCIO

People often ask me the question: What is supervision? It's a great question and one you may also be asking. Rather than simply trying to explain what supervision is in words, I decided to create the Three Ringed Model - a model that would help people to clearly understand what supervision is and what the main focus is.

The three ringed model is a visual picture that shows that the main focus of supervision is a person's work life or, put another way, their profession, vocation, business or ministry. It also shows that a person’s work life overlaps with their personal life and their spiritual life.

This model shows that in order for supervision to be holistic, we work in the overlap between work life and personal life but don't go so far that it becomes counselling or therapy. It also shows that we work in the overlap between a person's work life and spiritual life, but don't go so far that it becomes spiritual direction or takes the place of a person's faith community.

Another question I am often asked is: How is supervision different to other types of support? The ‘Three Ringed Model’ clearly shows that supervision differs from other types of support by having a clear focus on your work life but also importantly considers the overlap with your personal life and your spiritual life.

I had someone come to me for supervision recently. He was referred by his church. Having never had supervision before, in our first session together, I shared the 'Three Ringed Model' with him. I spoke about his work/ministry being central to supervision and how it would be the main focus in our sessions. He looked relieved and said:

“That’s wonderful news as I feel like I have good support personally by my family and friends and I have a psychologist that I have seen a few times when I’ve needed it. I have a supportive faith community. The part that is missing is confidential support for my work life/ ministry. A place to go to help me grow and develop in my ministry, and to make sure I’m being the best that I can be in my role.”

He went on to say that he loved that supervision brought it all together and would support him in his work and also his work/life balance in the crossover between his personal life and his work life. Supervision also took into consideration what was important to him, his beliefs, his values and how that informed his work in the crossover between his work life and his spiritual life. I thought that his observations summed up supervision so well. It’s the missing piece of support for so many.

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SUSAN MARCUCCIO is the National Supervision Director for Chaplaincy Australia and Supervisor Trainer