Feedback Needed on Supervision
I'm anticipating an ongoing struggle with my supervisor and I'm just looking for additional perspective on the issue. I'm in my last few months of supervision before I can test for full licensure.
I had another supervisor for about 1.5-2 years, who I had a great relationship with. However, there came a time where private practice was no longer feasible for her and it became nearly impossible for us to schedule, which is how I ended up with the new supervisor. My supervisor is driving me crazy.
The new supervisor pathologizes literally EVERYTHING that I say....and I really do mean everything. The straw that is breaking the camel's back for me is this: I came into supervision discussing that I've been reconsidering my cancellation policy. I've been wondering if I should be more lenient during certain scenarios and create more grey areas for the policy. I consider periodic review of policies to be very healthy as business owners. We are in a place of power; I believe that it is very healthy to continue checking ourselves to make sure we are being fair, equitable, and serving our clients to the best of our ability (without sinking our own businesses, of course). My supervisor took this sentiment and told me that I have a "lack mentality" and that I need to do my own therapeutic work on my own discomfort with setting financial boundaries........what?????? To be clear, I was not the least bit activated, stressed out, or emotional when I was discussing this policy; I was simply being thoughtful about how I interact with my clients and my policies, which is what I'm supposed to do????
She does this with everything. Every single issue gets brought back to "the self of the therapist", no matter how trivial the question is. Every topic is swayed into a completely unrelated topic from what I'm actually asking about. A thoughtful reflection is made into a deep issue that genuinely does not exist.
I sent a relatively lengthy email last week regarding the scope of supervision and my desire to stay strong in my own values and identity as a clinician. I was very thoughtful about how I said it, but I laid out that I don't think it is appropriate to be constantly pathologizing everything we say as associates, especially with such limited information about who we are as people. Given the constant pushback I've already received, I'm somewhat anticipating for this discussion to escalate, at least at first.
Looking for general thoughts and guidance on this issue. Thanks in advance!