Interactive virtual session on Group Supervision in Marital Therapy for mental health professionals
At CMH, we believe in the sense of community and collective growth. We recognise that for the advancement of the profession and promoting its professionals’ growth, it’s important to invest in and nurture the facilitators of change. Yes, that’s you! And we do this through our peer supervision services- The Peer Supervision Space (PSS) program.
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Have you ever experienced any of the following in your practice or cases?

  • Feeling isolated due to a lack of professional community.
  • Uncertainty about your actions during or after a session.
  • Sensation of being constrained by the current therapeutic approach, seeking a fresh perspective.
  • Unsure which approach or technique to employ for a specific issue.
  • Frustration with the pace of therapy progress.
  • Encountering clients “stuck” in their emotions, unable to break through.
  • Struggling to establish boundaries with specific cases.
  • Experiencing physical and emotional exhaustion after sessions.
  • Facing ethical or legal dilemmas when working with vulnerable populations.
  • Determining your role in ensuring the safety of clients dealing with abuse.
  • Addressing self-harm risks when clients lack social support.
  • Desiring a safe space to discuss your therapy plans and experiences with fellow professionals as a solo practitioner.

Most therapists in India and around the globe will encounter the above challenges at some point in their practice or other. Usually, peer supervision in counselling, and group clinical supervision helps you process and grow through these experiences with the help of clinical or counselling supervisors.

Some of the Benefits of a Peer Supervision Program are

Addressing Personal Difficulties and Dilemmas
  • Self-Reflection: Provides an opportunity for therapists to reflect on their own emotional reactions and personal challenges that may arise during therapy sessions.
  • Personal Growth: Supports personal growth and self-awareness, leading to improved therapeutic skills and empathy.

  • Reducing Burnout: Helps in identifying and managing stress, burnout, and emotional exhaustion, promoting long-term well-being.

Professional Development

  • Skill Enhancement: Offers a platform for sharing therapeutic techniques and strategies, leading to skill development and innovation in therapy.

  • Ethical Guidance: Facilitates discussions on ethical dilemmas and professional boundaries, promoting adherence to ethical standards.

  • Clinical Insights: Enables therapists to gain fresh perspectives on difficult cases and receive constructive feedback from peers.

Battle Professional Isolation

  • Community Support: Fosters a sense of belonging and connection with a community of fellow professionals who understand the challenges of the field.

  • Networking: Provides opportunities for networking, referrals, and collaboration with other therapists.

  • Reducing Loneliness: Combats the isolation often experienced in private practice or individual therapy work.

Creating a Safe Space

  • Confidentiality: Ensures a confidential environment where therapists can discuss sensitive cases and personal concerns openly and find support from others lived experiences.

  • Non-Judgmental Environment: Promotes a non-judgmental atmosphere where therapists can seek support without fear of criticism.

  • Peer Validation & Feedback: Offers opportunity for gaining validation from contemporaries and peers. Encourages peer feedback, which can be compassionate and constructive.

In summary, a peer supervision group program offers psychotherapists numerous benefits, including personal growth, professional development, a sense of community, and a safe space for open and confidential discussions. These advantages can contribute to improved therapist well-being and the delivery of high-quality therapeutic services.

Group clinical supervision session, mental health professionals collaborating virtually.

However, If you are facing any of these challenges and don’t have an avenue for reflective practice, then CMH offers reflective supervision in the form of peer supervision spaces.

If you’re a psychotherapist, striving to be the best psychotherapist in India, you’ll often encounter clients with diverse symptoms and backgrounds, including chronic mental health issues, stress, trauma, grief, and more. Clients may have different expectations, and while professionals are trained to meet these needs, it’s normal to encounter challenges in helping clients heal. Some therapists find these challenges beneficial for personal growth, while others may feel inadequate or overwhelmed. If you’ve experienced such difficulties, read on; the Center for Mental Health offers context-based individual support and opportunities for your overall professional growth.

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Visual representation of group supervision for therapists, showcasing collaborative discussions among four mental health professionals.

What is Supervision?

Supervision is a collaborative practice at the Center for Mental Health, held for the purpose of personal and professional development of mental health professionals. CMH advocates for inclusive, ethical, competent, and comprehensive care to all its clients. Going beyond group supervision in counselling, there is emphasis on models above the standard, by including group supervision in family therapy, group supervision in couples therapy, and group supervision in marital therapy. In order to provide what is promised, the organisation and its team recognises the importance of promoting welfare and training of its professionals. This aim is achieved through ‘reflective supervision’ at CMH. It is believed that therapists’ experiences, emotions and beliefs have an impact on their relationship with clients. Reflective supervision offers a safe space where therapists can develop the ability to be curious about, reflect and regulate their own internal experiences in relationship to their clients.

Reflective Supervision involves collaboration among supervisor and supervisee in exploring parallel relationships over case management. This approach goes beyond conventional group supervision for therapists. Instead, focus is on fostering a many-sided perspective, aiming to cultivate parallel relationships. These parallel relationships could be between anyone including the therapist and client, therapist and client’s family members, client and family members, or therapist’s relationship with the supervisor, and last but not the least, therapist and themselves. Reflective supervision allows for the therapist to arrive upon and discover alternate perspectives through prompts and the space held by the supervision. It is also one of the approaches that is consistent with trauma informed systems.

Center for Mental Health uses reflective supervision as an approach in its supervisory practices and integrates it in group modality as well for greater effectiveness.

A peer supervision group for therapists is an effective way of group led consulting among peers of the same profession. Psychotherapy supervision typically refers to online clinical supervision in India. Participants in the peer supervision groups confer with each other by deliberating and reciprocating on key topics from their practice. 

Peer supervision can

  •  Provide emotional and practical support to the therapist/professional, 
  •  Refine the therapist’s clinical skills/acumen 
  •  Ensure better client care
  • Gain exposure to novel approaches in context of your difficulties, challenges, and dilemmas
A group of mental health professionals engaged in face-to-face discussion during Group Supervision in Counseling session.

What is the Peer Supervision Space?

CMH proudly announced its Peer Supervision Space (PSS) program at Confluence 2023: 1st Annual Convention held by CMH, Pune! The program was announced in an effort to help the professional community come together and share their experience, knowledge, talents, and grow stronger together not just as an organisation but as a professional community in India.

CMH facilitates a group meeting as part of the program where

  • Mental health practitioners meet once a month in a closed group format
  • It offers an opportunity to bring up dilemmas/challenges faced by therapists in their workspace and find alternative perspectives and solutions
  • CMH Facilitators trained in a variety of novel intervention approaches moderate each session
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Diagram providing a brief of group supervision services

What’s different about the PSS program?

The PSS program doesn’t solely focus on case management; it goes one step further and centres on the therapist in the room, acknowledging their humanness as it seeks to support them through their challenges. Additionally, it addresses hot topics and on-the-job dilemmas that practitioners encounter in their day-to-day practice. The vision is to assist Mental Health Professionals (MHPs) in bridging the gap between theory and practice, ensuring that the practice is culturally informed and sensitive. The PSS program serves as the holding space for the practitioner’s own feelings, thoughts, and experiences. It takes pride in its empathetic and non-judgmental stance, providing practitioners with a safe and supportive environment to bond with their professional peers.

Apart from cognitive behavioural therapies, the team in the PSS program at Center for Mental Health are experienced in the following areas

  • Queer Affirmative Practices (LGBTQ Affirmative Therapy)

  • Schema Therapy

  • Narrative Therapy
  • Family Based Therapy

  • Trauma Informed Approaches

  • Trauma Focused Interventions: EMDR & Internal Family Systems
  • Perinatal Mental Health
  • Integrative Psychotherapy Approaches

The PSS program at the Center for Mental Health follows certain processes to ensure maximum benefit to practitioners

  • Establishing clear goals and objectives for the discussion
  • Creating a safe and supportive environment
  • Having a moderator from varied experience & expertise to encourage active participation and help the group be focussed by having right kind of “Reflective Prompts”
  • Fostering collaborative learning and growth
  • Sharing of psychoeducational and other reading materials relevant to discussions to help with continuous learning.

What is the format of the PSS program?

Duration: 2 hour long 
Frequency: once a month
Capacity: 10 professionals
Role Structure

  • Moderator from Relevant Area of Experience

  • Participants

  • Meeting Organiser

  • Program Director

Modality: Online

Who can join the PSS Program?

You can apply to be a part of the PSS program, If you are a practising

  • Psychotherapist
  • Clinical Psychologist
  • Counsellor/ Counselling Psychologist
  • Rehabilitation Psychologist
  • Psychiatrist
  • Psychiatric Social Worker
  • Any Other Practising Mental Health Professional

The PSS program is a closed group peer supervision service.

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