Centre of Therapy

Saturday 27th February 10am – 4pm

Facilitators: John McCormack and Margaret Kerr

Cost: £75

This workshop will help supervisors understand and deploy a strengths based approach to supervision.

Strengths based practice and strengths based supervision have their roots in postmodern approaches, such as solution focused brief therapy and narrative therapy, where the emphasis is less on the “objective truth” and more on the collaborative and subjective experience of supervision.

The workshop will provide a context for assessing and fostering strengths and will sharpen our ability to uncover previously obscured resources and competencies. We will explore the kind of language and communication skills that amplify supervisee competency and provide the foundation for further progress and development.

As a specific example of strengths based supervision in practice, we will apply this approach to work experientially with two manifestations of unconscious process in supervision - countertransference and parallel process.

Sometimes, as supervisors and therapists, we experience powerful thoughts, feelings and patterns of behaviour which may appear puzzling, or inappropriate to the here-and-now. In psychodynamic therapy, these are recognised as unconscious processes. Often these processes threaten to obstruct or derail the progress of our work.

However, from a strengths-based perspective, identifying and working with unconscious processes is a great asset in gaining a deeper understanding of clients’ and supervisees’ dilemmas.

John McCormack

Is Learning and Development Manager with Glasgow Association for Mental Health (GAMH). John also teaches the COSCA Counselling Skills course at Caledonian University

His experience as an addictions counsellor in homelessness and mental health has led him to firmly believe in the inherent strengths of people who have complex needs.

John is committed to supporting recovery and the training andconsultancy he provides is designed to helping others realise their full potential.

Margaret Kerr

Margaret Kerr is a CBT and integrative psychotherapist, working in private practice. She is accredited with BABCP, BACP and UKCP.

She has completed a post graduate training in clinical supervision at the University of Derby, and is a BABCP accredited supervisor.

Alongside her psychotherapy practice, she runs workshops in ecopsychology and is involved in academic research in transpersonal psychology.