The Process of Professional Pastoral Supervision
What is Pastoral Supervision?
Supervision is a way of learning from experience. It is a relationship whereby supervisor and client engage in an enquiry into workplace events and practices in order to be more effective (cf. Carroll, M. One More Time: What is Supervision? in Psychotherapy in Australia Vol 13, No 3 May, 2007. p36)
Supervision is a way of reflection, identification, awareness raising, naming and questioning the workplace reality with its challenges and achievements. While supervision is concerned with pastoral practice, there might also be occasion to bring for consultation personal issues related the client’s pastoral practice.
Supervision is not counselling, spiritual direction or psychotherapy. It is rather a process of structured reflection on experience that offers accountability; feedback and insight; and explores strategic ideas for better work practices. The model for supervision employed is based in a learning methodology using transformative, autobiographical learning theory. This model enables clients to notice what is happening in the pastoral encounter and what needs changing; what is satisfactory and what is lacking; to become aware of the factors that impact on particular events; identify new strategies; use creative methods of interrogating the self in a particular situation and become clear about stakeholders and competing interests being served as the client works through events to identify learning that has occurred and identify future action.
The supervisor’s role in this process is to provide a safe environment to articulate the story; leave space for reflection; identify questions that might assist in deepening the learner’s knowledge of the event; challenge the learner’s perception of the event; provide feedback on the presented story; suggest paradigms, learning models and resources for continuing the interrogation of the story and encourage new strategies for moving into the future confidently. Supervisors recognise their own limits and offer referrals when appropriate.