At an early stage in the training process you are set a challenge: finding a supervisor.
You might be one of the more fortunate trainees in that your post in your workplace as a trainee forensic psychologist means that you will automatically have a supervisor to take you through Stage 2. Not everyone is going to find the process this straight forward, so you may need to negotiate through your organisation for a chartered forensic psychologist to provide you with professional supervision. But there are difficulties involved with this, such as the capacity of the psychologist, the cost to your department for their time and their availability.
In all job posts you will need to be receiving clinical supervision from a manager, you may also arrange to have peer supervision which has many benefits for you and other trainees including sharing practice and learning without the appraisal aspects that may be part of clinical supervision. Clinical supervision is about your work and can be undertaken by a manager but in order to charter you need a coordinating supervisor who is a chartered forensic psychologist. Managers or clinical supervisor can be named as your designated supervisor for particular pieces of work and this counts towards your 4 hours of supervision a month but you need to have at least 2 hours supervision a month with your coordinating supervisor who will need to be a chartered forensic psychologist.
If you decide to find an independent supervisor to be your coordinating supervisor you will need to contact Alex Johnson, the Qualifications Officer at the DFP. Alex has a list of current supervisors and their contact details so that you can start canvassing for supervision. The only thing the list doesn't provide is information on whether the supervisors have any current availability. Whilst some chartered forensic psychologists do not take on independent trainees as they feel we are unable to get the experience, many others see the benefits of having independent trainees not just as an extra source of income but as essential to the development of the wider forensic psychology arena.
I also made sure to note what areas they had experience in and where they worked as it helps to have a supervisor who holds the same interests in forensic psychology as you do, for example, if you do not agree with the prison system and do not want to work in that setting, you want to look for a supervisor who perhaps has experience of secure units, police or community work. Furthermore, if your interest is in the courts and eye witness testimony etc, you may find a supervisor who has only worked with offending behaviour and mental health more difficult to work with. On the other hand, a good supervisor may be able to support you despite your differences in interests.
Trying to secure a supervisor is very similar to sending your CV out for a job. You have to sell yourself. It can take some time between finishing your masters and securing a supervisor. Supervisors will then want to know what you have been doing in the mean time to keep your skills sharp, to gain experience and to continue your professional development.
This is where volunteering and placements can come in handy and if you need help in organising and logging your continued professional development (CPD) then the BPS have a great CPD site on their main website which allows you to keep a record of your CPD, your learning and your reflections.
British Psychological Society
It can be hard to know what it is supervisors are looking for in order to sell yourself to them, SO, I asked my supervisor what she looks for and what she thinks other supervisors look for in a trainee.
Essentially she feels supervisors are looking for people who are motivated and able to work independently; supervisors are there to advise and guide and it is made very clear that you will be doing the work for yourself. You will need to demonstrate a high degreel of organisation so that a supervisor can be certain that you are capable of working at this level. She agreed that a variety of experience is also helpful even if it is voluntary work.
She did add another useful point. As with any job or placement, demonstrating that you are mature and professional in your approach to securing a supervisor can make the difference between being accepted and not, so a strong CV and cover letter stating your intention for supervision, what stage your are at with your CPD and training and where you want to go in the future are a must.
The independent route to chartership does have one special difficulty and this is associated with supervision, and that is finance. Unless your workplace will fund this training, you will have to fund supervision yourself.
Supervisors costs vary but are usually between £50 - £100 an hour, and half again for marking work that you send to them. Ouch.
Ok, deep breath, don't panic. You only need to see your supervisor for 4 hours a month once you are enrolled on Stage 2. Furthermore, it can take up to a year to do all the preparation and have your application completed and approved and you won't need to see your supervisor for 4 hours a month during that time. It is once you are enrolled that you must see a supervisor for 4 hours a month. However, this can include a designated supervisor who is overseeing your examplar work at your placement or in your workplace. S
For example, if you are doing a placement with a college for one of your exemplars then someone has to be named your designated supervisor and you can see this person for 3 out of the 4 supervision hours a month, saving you a bit of money. A word of caution, your coordinating supervisor is there to make sure that your work is up to standard and to ensure that you are practising appropriately, therefore if they feel at any point that you are struggling then you will need to see them more often. This isn't a bad thing and can only help to improve your practice and the likelihood of passing your exemplars first time. For some ideas and tips about funding, see my blog post of:
Money Matters for Training Success
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