Clinical Supervision for Therapists

Supervision is where you get to think aloud about your work, with someone who takes the clinical detail and your own experience of it equally seriously.

I offer clinical supervision to therapists, counsellors and other practitioners in the helping professions, individually and in small groups, online, in English.

Whether you are in training, recently qualified, or many years into practice, supervision can help you feel clearer, steadier and more honest about what is actually happening in the room.

We begin with a free introductory call, with no obligation, to talk about what you need and whether we might be a good fit.

How I work in supervision

My approach is integrative and relational, with a foundation in the somatic. The relationship between us is part of the work, not just a backdrop to it. A lot of what matters about your work with a client tends to show up in how we talk about it together.

Different stages of a career often call for different things. Early on, you may want more structure, more containment, and permission to not know. Later, you may want a thinking partner who will push back. I try to adjust accordingly, and I hope you’ll feel able to tell me directly if I’ve got it wrong.

I draw on what I’ve trained and practised in: relational and humanistic approaches, psychodynamic thinking, cognitive-behavioural work, EMDR and trauma-focused practice, and somatic and body-oriented work. In supervision, these are resources rather than a model I’d expect you to adopt. If you work in a modality I don’t practise, do mention it on the introductory call. We can usually find a way to work together rather than assuming it isn’t possible.

Supervision is not only about your clients

You are the main instrument of your work, and instruments need attention too.

Alongside material related to your client, there is room here to look at transference and countertransference: what a particular client stirs in you, and what your own history might be doing in the room. Supervision isn’t therapy, but it also doesn’t need to be a space where you leave yourself outside the door.

There is room, too, for the parts of the job that rarely come up when the focus stays only on the client: ethical dilemmas and grey areas that don’t resolve cleanly, organisational dynamics, workload pressure, being managed by people who haven’t done the work themselves, and the ongoing question of how you keep going in a demanding profession.

The things that are hard to bring

Most practitioners have something they haven’t quite brought to supervision. A place where you’re stuck and feel a little embarrassed to still be stuck. Something you find yourself avoiding. A session that went somewhere you didn’t intend. A client you dread, or feel relieved to have had cancel, or think about more than you’d expect.

Attraction is on that list for many people, and it’s talked about far less than it happens, enough that it became the subject of my MA dissertation, on erotic transference and countertransference in supervision. Finding a client attractive is ordinary. It isn’t a failure of professionalism, and it isn’t, on its own, a sign that anything has gone wrong. What tends to matter more is whether you feel able to look at it: what it might tell you about the client, about the relationship, about what’s being played out between you, rather than holding it alone and hoping it settles. Attraction that has nowhere to go can become a risk. Attraction you can bring into the room with someone else is often useful clinical information.

The same is often true of other things: irritation, boredom, envy, feeling out of your depth, something you did that you’re still unsure about.

I try not to come to supervision looking to be impressed. I’d rather it be a place where you can put down the more polished account of your work and look, together, at what actually happened. I may ask questions that aren’t always comfortable, and I’ll say gently if I think something needs a closer look, but you won’t be met with shame for having a human response to another human being. A space that only ever hears the tidy version of things can only offer so much.

Areas I welcome

These are areas I work in myself, so I can usually hold the detail without you needing to explain the basics first. I don’t offer them as separate specialist services, and you don’t need to work in any of them yourself to bring your practice here.

Trauma and EMDR

Complex and developmental trauma, single-incident work, occupational trauma, and the pacing questions that come with all of it. I’m glad to support your EMDR practice reflectively too: protocol drift, knowing when to stop, what to do when processing stalls, and the impact on you of sitting with it. This is clinical supervision rather than accredited EMDR consultation, so if you need supervision that counts toward EMDR accreditation, an accredited consultant would be a better fit.

Gender, sexuality and relationship diversity

Work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and non-binary clients, gender questioning, kink and BDSM, non-monogamy and open relationships. Also welcome are the things that can be harder to say out loud in supervision: your own discomfort, your assumptions, a moment you noticed yourself pathologising something, or over-affirming it to avoid getting it wrong.

Psychedelic preparation and integration

Reflective supervision for practitioners doing preparation and integration work: scope and boundaries, what integration actually asks of a practitioner, holding material that doesn’t fit ordinary frames, and the ethical questions that come with a fast-moving and unevenly regulated field.

General integrative practice

Most of the supervision I do isn’t about any of the above. You’re welcome to simply bring your work with your clients as it is.

Individual and group supervision

Individual supervision gives you the whole session and closer attention to your own process.

Group supervision happens in small groups. You get less airtime, but often a good deal more perspective, hearing how others might approach the client or issue you’ve brought. It also costs less per session.

Some supervisees use both: individual regularly, group less often, or the other way round. We can work out frequency together, based on the number of clients you see, your stage of practice, and what your professional body asks for.

Who I supervise

Trainees on placement, newly qualified practitioners, and experienced clinicians who’d rather have a supervisor who engages thoughtfully than one who simply agrees. Counsellors, therapists, coaches, and practitioners in adjacent helping professions are all welcome.

If you’re not sure whether your role fits, do ask during the introductory call.

Training and experience

I am a licensed supervisor with the Malta Psychotherapy Professions Board, and I hold an MA in Professional Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy Supervision from Middlesex University, London: a supervision qualification specifically, rather than only a general clinical one.

I’ve worked as a supervisor and tutor on the MA in Advanced Clinical Practice at the Minster Centre, London, and I co-managed and supervised a team of therapists at the London Fire Brigade, across both general and trauma-related work, including in the period after the Grenfell fire.

I’m also an ICF-trained integrative coach, which may be relevant if your work sits somewhere between therapy and coaching, or moves between the two.

In private practice, I’ve supervised across a range of disciplines.

What supervisees say

My experience of Michael is that he has an impressive breadth and depth of knowledge in terms of counselling modalities and techniques which he can draw on to offer a valuable and holding experience to clients. As a supervisor Michael has been perceptive and supportive in all our meetings. Most helpfully, for me, has been how Michael creates and allows a space into which more unconscious processes in the counselling can emerge and take shape. I have found this such a valuable learning experience which enhances the subsequent work with clients.

Angela, Psychotherapist

Michael’s encouraging, empathic and empowering approach to our supervision helped me to stay grounded whilst working with something new, but it also challenged me to trust and stay in touch with my own intuitions. I found Michael’s integrative approach and vast knowledge of different theoretical orientations very encompassing. I felt that he respected my way of working within the modalities I was familiar with, whilst he also gave me the confidence to work with approaches I was less so. Moreover, I found Michael’s insights into my wellbeing and issues around transference hugely beneficial for steering my work, where needed – always delivered in a way which I found compassionate and containing.

Chrissy, Psychotherapist

Fees, frequency and your professional body

Session length, fees and scheduling are on the Practical Information page.

If you belong to a professional body, it’s worth checking its supervision requirements before we start. Required hours, ratios to client work, and what counts as a qualifying supervisor can vary quite a bit between professions, countries and stages of practice, so it’s better to confirm than to assume.

Ready to start?

Book a free introductory call

We’ll talk about your practice, what you’re looking for, and whether working together feels right. No obligation either way.

Book a free call