april 2026 CEO Blog

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What is clinical supervision?

When people think about the support provided by The Road Victims Trust, they often think about the care and support offered to those affected by serious or fatal road collisions. Less visible, but equally important, is the support provided to those delivering that care. Clinical supervision plays a vital role in ensuring that our staff and counselling volunteers are able to process the trauma they encounter, reflect on their work, and continue to provide safe, effective support. In this blog, Lucy Hancock, one of our Lead Coordinators explains what clinical supervision is and why it is such an important part of the service we provide.

A Practitioner’s Perspective – Lucy Hancock

At RVT our counselling volunteers are lucky enough to have 1-1 supervision free of charge as one of the benefits of being one of our volunteers. We offer this either twice a month or once a month depending on where they are in their studies and will always meet the B.A.C.P requirement for supervision hours.

Supervision is a vital part of being a counsellor. 

Counselling is something that takes place confidentially, between the counsellor and client. Supervision provides a distinctly separate space for the counsellor to meet with their supervisor to collaboratively explore the work between the counsellor and the client.

There are different approaches to supervision. I am trained in the 7 eyed model. This is where my supervisee and I will look at the work through different lenses.

1 – focus on the client

2 – focus on the interventions

3 – focus on the counsellor – client relationship

4 – focus on the counsellor’s process

5 – focus on the counsellor – supervisor relationship

6 – focus on the supervisor’s process

7 – focus on the wider systemic process

The supervisor role combines elements of education (particularly for trainees), oversight of the quality and ethical standards of the work, and emotional support. Counsellors will also take safeguarding concerns to their supervisor. At RVT, the “in-house” supervisors form the designated safeguarding team.

The “work” refers to what has taken place in the room between the counsellor and client but also what is taking place in the room between the supervisor and supervisee.

We must attend to these relationships and the wider systemic context, looking at things such as parallel process, transference, counter transference etc and in doing so this can improve the quality of the work, bring self-awareness, development and ultimately ensures ethical practice.

As a supervisor we must be reflective and encourage our supervisees to also be reflective.

Supervision is a reflective space, not only looking at the work that is happening in the room but also considering our own core beliefs and experiences. Often a client or supervisee may be “stuck” as something buried in their own core beliefs is no longer working for them. By bringing this to supervision and looking at the work with the client with curiosity, we can unpack the belief, where it has worked for them in the past and where it might not be working for them presently. By analysing this, it may encourage the supervisee or client to adjust and try an alternative approach. To do this you need to be self-aware and know what your core beliefs are. Supervision is a place where you may identify this and then take it to personal therapy for further exploration.

Supervision is a place where we can collaboratively identify blind spots and triggers. We can then make sure that we are working ethically, developing awareness and skills and really analyse the work that is taking place with the client, in a space that is “away” from the client, with room to contemplate and explore. It allows counsellors to reflect on how they form relationships, and why those relationships may differ from one client to another.

In summary, clinical supervision provides a regular, structured space to reflect on both the content and process of the work. It supports the development of skills and understanding, offers an additional perspective, and ensures that counsellors are not left carrying the emotional weight of their work alone. It also provides a safe environment to explore personal responses, access guidance and resources, and maintain ethical, high-quality practice.

This is important given that we are working with another human being and have a duty of care to them and to ourselves. Having a regular space to look at all of this is part of our self-care and keeps us all safe!

Lucy Hancock

Why This Matters

Clinical supervision is a critical part of our service. It supports our staff and volunteers, strengthens the quality of our work, and ensures that we continue to provide safe, ethical support to those who need it most. It is not visible to those outside the organisation, but it is central to everything we do at the trust.

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Paul Cook
Chief Executive Officer
The Road Victims Trust

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