What is professional reflective supervision?
Reflective supervision offers practitioners a dedicated space to slow down and make sense of their work. It’s a practice of thinking deeply — not just about what you’re doing, but how you’re doing it, and why.
In this space, we focus on your experience: the assumptions you bring, the questions you’re holding, the values that guide your practice, and the parts of your work that are sitting with you after hours. Reflective supervision isn’t about fixing or judging — it’s about noticing, understanding, and supporting your ongoing development as a thoughtful, ethical practitioner.
This service is ideal for:
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Practitioners who value time to reflect on the meaning and impact of their work
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Professionals navigating complexity, change, or value tensions
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Those seeking to deepen self-awareness, critical thinking, and professional integrity
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Leaders who want to stay grounded in reflective, relational practice
What to expect:
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A calm, spacious, and non-directive environment
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Collaborative reflection — not advice-giving or performance management
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Opportunities to explore identity, power, ethics, and purpose
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Support for integrating reflection into your ongoing practice
This form of supervision draws on adult learning theory, relational and dialogic approaches, and a commitment to reflective practice as a cornerstone of professional growth.
Different people learn in different ways and while one person may learn by reflecting on a positive outcome, another may find it most useful to focus on a situation they found challenging. It is important that reflection is done in the way that suits you best to provide the greatest benefit.
Reflective practice can have positive impacts for your service users, your colleagues, your practice and your health and wellbeing. It allows you to identify and appreciate positive experiences and better identify ways that you can improve your practice and service delivery. It can also be useful when you have had more challenging experiences, helping you to process and learn from them.
what theories inform our approach?
At InCourage Supervision we draw from a variety of theories, models, and influences to provide the best possible level of professional supervision for the individual supervisee. There are two models in particular that are foundational to our approach, and those are the seven eyed model of supervision created by Peter Hawkins and the reflective learning model of supervision by Allyson Davys.
By making use of these two models as our base we ensure a process to follow which delivers outcomes and actions for the supervisee, as well as a transparent and negotiable approach to how we explore and look at practice. Following will be a brief overview of both models.
The seven eyed model
One of the most enduring and widely used frameworks in professional supervision is the Seven-Eyed Model, developed by Peter Hawkins in 1985 and refined over time for a wide range of helping professions.
What makes this model so powerful is its ability to bring multiple perspectives into the supervision space — not just the client, but also the practitioner, the supervisor, and the broader systems that shape practice. It helps us reflect on the work from many angles, making supervision a richer and more dynamic experience.
The “seven eyes” refer to seven different modes or lenses. These aren’t meant to be followed in a strict order; instead, they offer flexible entry points for reflection depending on what’s most needed in the moment.
A brief overview of the seven modes:
Mode 1: The Client’s Story
Focuses on the client (person, group, or situation) and the core issues being brought into the supervision space.
Mode 2: Practitioner Interventions
Reflects on the practitioner’s approach — tools, strategies, and techniques used or considered.
Mode 3: The Practitioner–Client Relationship
Explores what’s happening in the relationship between practitioner and client, including relational dynamics such as transference.
Mode 4: The Practitioner’s Internal Experience
Attends to how the practitioner is affected by the work — emotionally, cognitively, and physically. This includes noticing reactions such as countertransference.
Mode 5: The Supervisor–Supervisee Relationship
Reflects on the dynamics of the supervision relationship itself, ensuring there’s a safe, collaborative working alliance.
Mode 6: The Supervisor’s Experience
Brings in the supervisor’s intuitive or emotional responses, which can provide insight into both the practitioner’s experience and the broader dynamics at play. This also includes consideration of “phantasy relationships” — imagined connections the supervisor might have with the client group, which can reveal unconscious material.
Mode 7: The Wider Context
Encourages reflection on the broader systemic, cultural, ethical, and organisational factors that influence the work — including societal pressures, professional codes, political or economic realities, and cultural context.
Together, these seven lenses help create a supervision space that’s thoughtful, expansive, and responsive to the full complexity of practice. It’s one of the key frameworks that informs how I support people to reflect, grow, and sustain themselves in their work.
the reflective learning model of supervision
The Reflective Learning Model is a core part of how I approach professional supervision.
Originally developed by Allyson Davys (2001) and expanded in later work with Liz Beddoe, this model positions supervision first and foremost as a learning process — one that’s grounded in partnership, reflection, and growth.
Rather than casting the supervisor as an expert and the supervisee as a passive recipient, this model promotes a collaborative, respectful relationship. It works to soften power dynamics in supervision by creating a space where both parties are engaged in shared thinking, critical reflection, and meaningful learning.
As Davys & Beddoe (2021) write, this model “promotes a way of thinking rather than a blueprint for doing.”
That emphasis on reflective inquiry — rather than performance or perfection — is central to my work.
How the Reflective Learning Model Works:
The model is structured around four main phases:
Event → Exploration → Experimentation → Evaluation
While the process has a clear structure, it’s always tailored to the needs of the supervisee and the situation at hand.
1. Event – Bringing the Story
Each session begins with preparation and relationship-based rituals — checking in, building safety, and setting the agenda. The supervisee brings forward a real experience or issue from practice — a client situation, ethical dilemma, or organisational challenge — and we work together to clarify the focus and purpose of the session.
2. Exploration – Deepening the Reflection
In this phase, we reflect on how the supervisee is being affected — emotionally, cognitively, and relationally. This might include looking at values, emotional responses, patterns of behaviour, or dynamics like transference. We also explore wider implications: organisational context, power, cultural dynamics, and ethical or professional frameworks.
Through this collaborative reflection, ideas begin to emerge and possible ways forward are framed — not as fixed answers, but as thoughtful responses.
3. Experimentation – Pressure Testing the Plan
Here, the supervisee begins to test and refine the ideas or plans that emerged during exploration. We consider the strengths and limitations of the approach, explore different perspectives, and examine whether the response is robust, ethical, and adaptable. This phase helps build confidence and clarity before taking action.
4. Evaluation – Checking the Learning
Before closing, we reflect on the supervision session itself. Has it met the goals? What learning has taken place? Are there insights or questions to carry forward? This creates a feedback loop that strengthens the supervision relationship over time, and ensures that sessions remain purposeful, supportive, and growth-oriented.
This model is especially well-suited to people who value reflection, growth, and partnership in their professional development. It helps create a consistent, intentional rhythm to supervision — while leaving room for creativity, emotion, and the real-world complexities of practice.
If you’ve read this far, it’s likely that you’re someone who values depth, reflection, and growth in your professional life. Whether you’re seeking a space to process complex work, strengthen your ethical practice, or simply reconnect with why you do what you do — supervision can be a powerful support.
If my approach resonates with you, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to get in touch to ask questions, book a free introductory chat, or explore whether we might be a good fit.