Applying for
Clinical Supervisor Registration

The Association also registers supervisors who have completed six years of active relationship counselling and have met the Association’s documented requirements for the registration of clinical supervisors.

The granting and renewal of registration of clinical supervisors is an important part of the Association's function in promoting quality and ethical standards for the profession of relationship counselling.

1. Standards for Clinical Supervisors
Clinical Supervision is a process in which two people taking the roles of supervisor and counsellor (or group of counsellors) form a relationship with the professional goal of helping the counsellor effectively develop and use his/her person and counselling function with clients.

Supervision seeks to create a safe space as a professional opportunity for a counsellor to confront, explore and become aware of the self within the dynamics of the counselling situations presented.

The supervisor's primary task is to assist the counsellor to develop a level of awareness that will free the counsellor to work creatively with clients within the frameworks of the employing agency or private practice and the theoretical models the counsellor has chosen.

2. A Clinical Supervisor must be able to demonstrate
a) A therapeutic approach to supervisees:
Respect, empowerment, genuineness, congruence, clear self boundaries.
b) Counselling skills:
Empathy, immediacy, questioning, confronting, informing, guiding, contracting.
c) Specific supervisory skills:
Process orientation, maintaining the focus on the client/counsellor system, awareness and use of parallel process, appropriate didactic input, hypothesising, checking out and offering choices, lack of collusion, flexibility, appropriate integration of agency accountability and guidelines within the supervisory process.
d) An ability to work with supervisees presenting from a range of models of relationship counselling and psychotherapy.
e) An integrated personal model of both counselling and clinical supervision.
f) An ability to facilitate a supervisee’s acceptance of responsibility for her/his development.
g) Competence in identifying and evaluation of supervisee’s personal and professional resources and performance.
h) An ability to negotiate an appropriate programme to meet the particular developmental needs of the supervisee.
i ) The capacity to use their personal history and personality in shaping supervisory style.

3. Procedure for the registration of Clinical Supervisors
Supervisors who believe they meet the requirements as defined in the standards may apply for registration as a supervisor. Pathways for registration are outlined below and applicants are required to fulfil the conditions to the satisfaction of the Clinical Practices Sub Committee

Pathway A:
• Master clinician membership of this Association;
• Completion of at least six (6) years of active supervised relationship counselling;
• Completion of at least 2000 hours of counselling under supervision;
• At least three (3) years in the practice of supervision involving at least a hundred (100) hours with more than three supervisees.

Applicants must provide:
• Evidence of having conducted both individual and where possible, group supervision of counselling;
• The names of three current or recent supervisees and current clinical supervisor as referees;
• A paper of two thousand words minium, outlining a personal philosophy of supervision;
• A VHS videotape, DVD or audio tape recording of a supervision session, and a self evaluation of that session;
• Evidence of all training undertaken and qualifications gained in supervision.

Pathway B:
• Master clinician membership of this Association;
• Completion of at least six (6) years of active supervised relationship counselling;
• Completion of an accredited training program in supervision of at least 50 hours;
• Minimum of a hundred (100) hours of supervised supervision practice over at least three (3) years.
Applicants must provide:
• A reference, demonstrating competence, from the trainer of the accredited supervision training programme;
• The names of two current or recent supervisees who will be asked for references;
• An essay of 2000 words minium, outlining a personal philosophy of supervision.

Pathway C:
• Master clinician membership of this Association for at least ten (10) years with a minimum of 2,500 hours of supervised counselling experience;
• Experience of at least ten (10) years of supervision practice consisting of a minimum of 300 hours of supervised supervision.
Applicants must provide:
• The names of their current supervisor and two (2) current or recent supervisees who will be asked for references;
• An essay of 2000 words minimum outlining their theoretical understanding of supervision and the development of their supervision practice over time.

Pathway D:
For equivalently qualified supervisors from overseas, applicants must provide:
• Certified documentation from their original supervisor accreditation process;
• An essay of 2000 words minimum outlining their theoretical understanding of supervision and the development of their supervision practice over time;
• The names of their current supervisor and two (2) current or recent supervisees who will be asked for references.

Essay Criteria:
Essays will be assessed as satisfactory or unsatisfactory according to the following criteria:
• Minimum of 2,000 words; typed;
Demonstrating:
• A theoretical understanding of the supervisory process, with explanation of at least one theoretical model of supervision;
• An understanding of key concepts in supervision;
• An ability to reflect on one’s own supervisory practice.

4. Maintenance of Supervisory Status
To maintain registration, a supervisor must:
a) Continue to function as a supervisor or in a closely related capacity.
b) Maintain a minimum caseload of 250 hours per year of supervised relationship counselling.
c) Obtain supervision of their supervisory work.
d) Recognise the desirability of continuing education in supervision and
e) Re-register every five years.
4.1. Supervisors who move into an area of work not involving supervision must request the National Management Committee to place their name on the inactive list.
4.2. Any supervisor desiring to return to the active supervision list requires approval from the National Management Committee.

5. Procedure for the Renewal of registration
Every five years a registered Clinical Supervisor must renew their registration by:
a) Completing the Renewal of Registration as a Clinical Supervisor form (SRA);
b) Providing the names of three current or recent supervisees and current clinical supervisor as referees;

6. Publication of names
The names of registered supervisors will be published along with the list of clinical members.

Applying for Clinical Supervisor Registration
The Association registers supervisors who have completed six years of active relationship counselling and have met the Association’s documented requirements for the registration of clinical supervisors.
The granting and renewal of registration of clinical supervisors is an important part of the Association's function in promoting quality and ethical standards for the profession of relationship counselling.

Checklist for applying:

• Download Registration of Clinical Supervisors Application Form.pdf
• Complete the Application Form;
• Include the paper of your supervision philosophy;
• Include (Pathway A:) the VHS videotape, DVD or audiotape of a supervisory session and the written evaluation of the tape. Because of variations in audio equipment, when an audiotape is provided, a full, accurate, typed transcript of the recorded session is required. Also include a self-addressed pre-paid Express Post satchel for the return of your tape;
•Include (Pathway B:) the reference from the trainer;
• Include (Pathway D:) the certified documentation;
• Include $55 registration of clinical supervisor fee;

• Forward all application material by Express Post to:

AARC MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY
P O Box 493
LEEDERVILLE WA 6903

• After your referees references have been collected, the tape and/or documentation will be reviewed by the Management Committee, which usually meets in February and July each year. You will be notified of the outcome of this process.