What do I mean by looking at the energetic aspects in supervision?
When I begin with a client/supervisee, we discuss what they want in supervision. First step after that is to ensure that their space is clean and cleared of all energies that do not support their goals for their practice. Then we invite in and incorporate the energies that they want as part of their practice. Any noun has an energy that can be used to define and build our work. Everyone has some person or spiritual beings who represent for them those qualities that want to partake in. For example, I often call in Gandhi for his ability to recognize what are the battles to fight and which ones to let go of and also for his patience for waiting until the time is right.
We then work on the ethical and energetic boundaries that are appropriate to their profession.
Body workers, counsellors, and psychics all need slightly different, but still clean, clear, ethical boundaries. As one begins to understand the non-physical aspects of human interaction, it gets more complicated to think through what is appropriate so this usually becomes an active and ongoing conversation.
I once worked with a well known PTSD psychotherapist who had been doing fine for years until one of her clients began to visit her at night in her sleep. She discounted it as her dreaming until the client brought up specifics that they couldn’t have known unless they had been with her in the ”dreamed” conversation the night before. This was not something that the therapist thought possible. In the bodywork field, how does a massage therapist handle a client’s erection? For the mystical arts, boundaries are often extra difficult as there are no written guild guidelines. When you see cancer in the immediate future of a client while doing a reading, how much do you say?
There are appropriate and good boundary answers to all situations though some are very difficult to enforce.
Learning how to set your own energetic boundaries and then teaching your clients to set theirs is a good place to begin. As part of a boundary discussion, you can also decide what kind and how many really complicated clients that you want to attract. My healing teacher Rosalyn Bruyere always suggested not having more than 10 – 15 % really complex or difficult clients in your practice in order to maintain your energetic balance. More than that was fun at first but leads to burnout.
This all may sound difficult and beyond your interest and pay grade.
You needn’t dive in more than you want, but it is good to be aware of what exists or is possible. Fortunately, once you are aware of energy, it actually isn’t that difficult to manage the additional awareness and it adds incredibly to the safety of your practice as well as being fascinating and fun.