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Personal Counselling vs. Professional Supervision: Nurturing the Person Behind the Counsellor

Writer's picture: Kristy WildKristy Wild

Updated: Dec 11, 2024

Hey there, fellow counsellors and counsellors-in-training! If you've been following along, you might remember our last chat about the importance of personal counselling for those of us in the helping professions.


Today, I want to dive a little deeper and explore a question I often hear: "What's the difference between personal counselling and professional supervision, and do I need both?"


Great question! Let's unpack this together.


Personal Counselling: Healing the Healer


First, let's revisit what we mean by personal counselling for counsellors. This is a space where you, as a person (who also happens to be a counsellor), can explore your own emotional landscape, process personal challenges and identify personal growth and life-learning areas. These sessions are about YOU, not your clients or your professional skills.


In personal counselling, you might:

- Work through your own past traumas or unresolved issues

- Explore personal relationships or life transitions

- Address anxiety, depression or other mental health concerns

- Process emotions that arise from your work, but focus on how they impact you personally


Remember that client session that unexpectedly stirred up feelings about your own family? That's exactly the kind of thing you'd explore in personal counselling – not how it affects your client work, but how it affects you as a person. It's the same work you do with your clients...


Professional Supervision: Nurturing the Counsellor


Now, let's talk about professional supervision. This is a formal, established arrangement where you discuss your client work, professional development and ethical considerations with a more experienced, suitably supervision-trained practitioner in your field.


In supervision, you might:

- Review specific client cases and intervention strategies

- Explore ethical dilemmas in your practice

- Process biases or conflicts that you've identified

- Develop and improve your professional identity and skills

- Discuss how to manage the emotional impact of your work


If you're wondering how to best support that client whose story resonated with you, or you're grappling with a challenging ethical situation – that's supervision territory.


The Key Differences


1. Focus: Personal counselling focuses on you as a person and your personal experiences, while supervision focuses on you as a professional and your client work.


2. Confidentiality: While both are confidential, the boundaries are different. In personal counselling, the content stays between you and your counsellor. In supervision, there's an understanding that client cases (anonymised, of course) will be discussed.


3. Goals: Personal counselling aims to enhance your individual learning, growth and healing. Supervision aims to improve your professional practice and reflexivity, and ensure ethical, effective client care.


4. Emotional Exploration: In personal counselling, your emotions are one of our main foci. In supervision, while emotions are acknowledged, the focus is on how they impact your work.


5. Professional Requirement: Most professional bodies require regular supervision for practicing counsellors. Personal counselling, while highly beneficial, is usually not mandated.


Why Both Personal Counselling and Professional Supervision Matter


Here's the thing: as counsellors (or any helping practitioner), we're not just professionals – we're whole people. We're humans. And as humans, our personal life impacts our work, and our work impacts our personal life. That's why I deeply believe both personal counselling and professional supervision play crucial roles in our development and wellbeing.


Personal counselling helps us maintain our emotional and mental health, work through our own issues and grow and thrive as individuals. This personal growth inevitably enhances our client work, making us more grounded, self-aware and reflexive practitioners.


Supervision ensures we're providing the best possible care to our clients, helps us navigate professional challenges, identifies gaps in our skills and knowledge base and supports our continued growth as counsellors.


Finding the Right Balance


So, do you need both? In my experience (and personal opinion), YES – though the balance might look different for everyone. Regular supervision is a professional necessity and requirement. Personal counselling might be ongoing for some, while others might only seek it out during particularly challenging times or life transitions.


*Remember, engaging in personal counselling isn't a sign of inadequacy or instability – it's a testament to your commitment to continued self-awareness and growth. It's practicing what we preach about the value of seeking support and not shouldering our burdens alone.


As a counsellor offering personal counselling to other counsellors, I'm continually amazed by the depth of insight and growth that emerges when we give ourselves permission to be the client, to be vulnerable - to be HUMAN.


Whether you're a counselling student just starting out, a recent graduate finding your feet in the profession or a seasoned counselling practitioner, I encourage you to consider how both personal counselling and professional supervision can support your journey.


And, as always, if you're considering personal counselling and want to explore if we might be a good fit, I'm here for you! Please feel free to reach out or book a session. Let's take those small steps towards your personal understanding and growth, together.


 

Have you experienced both personal counselling and supervision? How have they differed for you? How has engaging in both enhanced your counselling practice? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

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