Professional supervision is an enabling process for the client which offers the opportunity on a regular basis to review and identify solutions to problems, improve practice, and increase understanding of professional and clinical issues within a safe, supportive environment.
Coaching is usually defined as working together to establish suitable goals, action plans and timelines within the context of the other aspects of the client’s life. Since I have done small business consulting, mentoring, professional supervision, and coaching, I have developed a mixture of the four that seems to work for the professional helpers, especially the self-employed.
In my mind, support for the helping professional must be wholistic, focusing on the professional’s issues within the context of their whole life. As with all of my areas of interest, the key is balance. Balancing your business life, personal time, creative needs, working as a small business or within the politics and frustrations of a larger institution, and the pressures of climate change. I think the clearest way to measure balance is how you spend the available hours in a week.
If there are 168 hours in a week, you sleep 8 hours a night (56), prepare and eat food at least 2 hours a day(14) which leaves you 98 hours a week to do your life.
Studies show that after working 50 hours a week, your productivity begins to drop. Studies also show that most Americans are sleep deprived. It is a choice to exhaust yourself. How can you support and help others to make wise and healthy choices when you aren’t? Creating a goal for the number of hours that you do your profession in a week is very important. Those hours need to include further education and all the miscellaneous time spent scheduling, billing, and on the phone. Then you need a plan to stick to your goal. I know this sounds idealistic, but it all stops working well both in the short and long term when you are too tired.
To thrive, one must also have time for creativity, both in your professional and personal lives.
This means both short term and long term self-care and access to the resources that you need to draw on or explore to be creative. Your self-care plan needs to be identified, designed and then consistently tweaked. This can include issues of time management, business skills, managing relationship with others, procrastination, and fee structure. In your professional further education, this means the time and resources to build on your strengths and to explore your weaknesses.
On the other hand, the lack of supervision can lead you to feel unappreciated, defensive, and burnt out.
Working in the health care professions, especially working alone, is very difficult. I see SO many helpers working without the support they need and deserve. Now being older, I also see very talented and skilled professionals quitting their practices early because they have nothing left to give.
You deserve the support and guidance which boosts your morale and confidence to meet your clients needs, run a successful business, develop your own creativity and skills, and finish the day with energy.