Affirming Supervision

What it is, why it is important, and how to find it

I have been in this field for well over 25 years now and I have had more than my fair of clinical and administrative supervisors. I can easily reflect back on some of my best supervisors, of them all, only my most recent ones, hired over a decade post-licensure, have been affirming of my neurodivergence, my queerness, or my authenticity. The ones who developed me pre-license and in the early and intermediate stages of my career were far from affirming and often did a great deal of harm while holding me the best they were able given their own skills as clinicians and supervisors. We are moving into one of the most challenging times of our profession. The next generation of clinicians is coming out of graduate school expecting (and deserving) brave spaces to learn the skills needed to facilitate change while also demanding brave spaces that affirm their authenticity and their willingness to be present with their clients in ways that are more human and connected than I have seen in the past.

So what is affirming or affirmative supervision? Affirmative supervision is a relational aspect within the supervision relationship that encompasses and welcomes the broad spectrum of individual and cultural diversities. Affirmative supervision is an atheoretical framework that is intended to augment and to be used consistently with the supervisor's existing theoretical model (Davies, 1996). Specifically, LGBTQIA2+ clinicians do not often experience affirming supervision. As you add intersections of oppression the affirming nature of the supervision decreases. When affirming supervision is not present, developing clinicians are not able to fully present the depth and complexities of the client or bring themes of self as a therapist into the supervisory relationship, leaving our next generation of clinicians severely under-prepared to attend to the complex needs of their clients.

Almost daily I see new graduates posting in search of a supervisor. I wonder, “Who are you?”, “What identities do you hold close to your spirit?”, “Who is your ideal client?”, “What are you looking for in a supervisor?”, “What does your supervisor need to bring to the table for you and your clients to feel affirmed in supervision?”. NONE OF THIS IS LISTED IN THEIR POST! I am not judging them, I have enough supervisees with me to know no one in graduate school taught the poster HOW to hire a supervisor. Right now the supervision market is saturated. Supervision credentials are easy to come by, especially in my home state of Georgia; three years in the field, 12 hours of training, and there you have it, you’re a supervisor. So with so many folks out there holding credentials, how do you know if your supervision will be affirming? Or, if you are a supervisor how do you know if you are providing affirming supervision?

Ask!

Does this supervisor have education, training, and experience working with the identities you and/or your clients hold?
- Are they active in related consultation and supervision of their own work?
Do they have lived experience in these areas?
What has their experience been working with clients and supervisees who hold these identities?
What values do they uplift and honor in their work?
Are they able to emotionally and logistically hold clients and supervisees through complex situations related to healthcare, the legal system, immigration, and other systems lead by the state?
What are their continued learning goals related to intersectionality and their own experience of privilege such as cisgender, heterosexual, race, education, class, etc.?
What is their knowledge of how concepts of colonization inform a great deal of the work within the fields of psychology, social work, counseling, and marriage and family therapy?
- How does that knowledge inform their supervision and their work with their clients?
What objective tools will they use to assess your work?
- How have these tools been validated across different cultural groups?
This is a far from exhaustive list. It will, however, help you get started thinking about your search for a supervisor or, if you are supervising already, where you may want to develop your skills.
What would you add? What value do you think this would bring to your work? How might being able to answer these questions bring an increase in emotional safety to the supervision space you are accessing or facilitating?
All of these questions are important to your supervision experience. While we are in a difficult economic situation where cost and efficiency are the primary motivators for signing a supervision contract, I invite you to think about the impact that will have on your work and your emotional safety and well-being as a therapist, and the emotional safety and well being of your clients.

In Peace,

Nick Marzo, MS LPC, LMHC, CST-S, ACS

Director, Modern Path

Chairperson AASECT Ethics Advisory Committee

Nick Marzo is excited to announce new supervision groups for all experience levels. These groups meet one Tuesday per month beginning in March and ending in August 2025. For a free consultation to see if you and Nick are goals and values aligned you can schedule here.