In today’s article, we will explore supervision integrated with the Single Session Therapy (SST) method. Specifically, we will examine the Single Session Supervision process developed by Pam Rycroft, a clinical psychologist, family therapist, and researcher at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. For many years, she has also been involved in training professionals in Single Session Therapy at the Bouverie Centre, an integrated research and practice organisation that provides services to families, organisations, and communities.
What Are the Main Functions of Supervision?
In the book Single Session Therapy by Walk-in or Appointment: Administrative, Clinical, and Supervisory Aspects of One-at-a-Time Services (2018), Pam Rycroft devoted a chapter entitled “Capturing the Moment in Supervision” to describing the Single Session Supervision process. She explains that the field of psychotherapy offers numerous definitions of supervision, as well as different ways of conceptualising the activity depending on the context in which it is applied and the theoretical framework that shapes its functions and roles.
According to the author, despite these different perspectives, three core functions consistently emerge: the normative, formative, and restorative functions (Proctor, 2011), which correspond respectively to accountability, professional development, and support. These are generally regarded as the essential components of effective clinical supervision.
Which Aspects of Supervision Have Recently Been Emphasised?
More recently, as Rycroft (2018) highlights, experiential learning and reflective practice have come to be regarded as central to fulfilling these supervisory functions.
From this perspective, clinical work itself becomes a learning experience, with the supervisor facilitating reflection on both past and present experiences in order to promote learning for the future. To describe this process, the author identifies four key supervisory functions: accountability, reflection, support, and education.
How Does Supervision Work Within This Framework?
As Carroll (2011) observed, supervision reflects on the past, in the present, for the future. Consequently, although supervision continues to follow a sequential and ongoing process supported by an overarching supervisory agreement, the focus of that agreement is renegotiated in every individual session. This enables both the supervisor and the supervisee to remain responsive to the learning opportunities that emerge in the present moment.
Which Function of Supervision Is Strengthened?
According to the author, this approach transforms supervision into something more than an “incidental” process. The formative or educational function requires supervisors to pay closer attention to ongoing learning processes and to the pivotal moments in the evolving professional story of each supervisee (Rosenbaum, Hoyt, & Talmon, 1990; see also Talmon, 1990).
In other words, the issues brought to supervision become both immediate concerns and opportunities for continuous professional development.
What Are the Advantages of This Approach to Supervision?
By negotiating what is most important in the here and now during every supervision session, supervisors are also able to recognise recurring themes and patterns that emerge over time.
One of the inherent risks of continuous, long-term supervision—as with long-term psychotherapy—is the tendency to assume that supervisees are already fully known, including all their strengths and weaknesses. This assumption can reduce the supervisor’s ability to remain fully present in the moment.
By approaching each supervision session with an awareness of the limitless possibilities contained within the supervisee’s current account of their clinical work, supervisors have the privilege of witnessing the present while simultaneously participating in a reflective process that promotes active learning for the future.
How Is the Single Session Supervision Process at the Bouverie Centre Structured?
Pam Rycroft uses a musical analogy to explain the structure and process of a supervision session, drawing on Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.
Like the sonata, which is divided into three sections, the supervision process begins with the Exposition, where the central theme is introduced in the principal key. The second section, the Development, explores the theme by considering different possibilities, variations, and perspectives. Finally, the Recapitulation returns the thematic material to its original key, integrating the different elements that emerged throughout the discussion into a coherent whole.
The Single Session Supervision Process in Detail
The supervision model developed by Rycroft consists of nine stages, organised into three overarching phases, during which the supervisor applies specific clinical skills:
- Exposition – establishing the context, identifying the central focus or theme, and maintaining attention on the agreed direction.
- Development – using curiosity to deepen understanding of the issues, attempted solutions, constraints, and available resources.
- Recapitulation – reflecting on ideas, possibilities, and emerging insights, inviting the supervisee’s response before collaboratively considering the most appropriate next steps.
Conclusion
The supervision approach described above highlights the importance of fostering a dialogue between supervisor and supervisee centred on a specific issue or theme, within which the four supervisory functions accountability, reflection, support, and education can be explored in a dynamic and interconnected way.
As with Single Session Therapy itself, this process transforms each supervision meeting into more than an opportunity for support and reflection on current clinical issues. Instead, every session becomes a meaningful learning experience that contributes to future professional development.
Angelica Giannetti
Psychologist, Psychotherapist
Italian Center for Single Session Therapy Team
References
Cannistrà , F., & Piccirilli, F. (2018). Terapia a Seduta Singola: Principi e pratiche. Giunti Editore.
Carroll, M. (2011). Supervision: A journey of lifelong learning. In R. Shohet (Ed.), Supervision as transformation: A passion for learning (pp. 14-28). London Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Hoyt, M. F., & Talmon, M. (Eds.). (2014). Capturing the moment: Single session therapy and walk-in services. Crown House Publishing Limited.
Rycroft, P. (2018). Capturing the Moment in Supervision. in Michael F.H., Bobele M., Slive A., Young J., Talmon M. (A cura di). Single Session Therapy by Walk-in or Appointment. Administrative, Clinical, and Supervisory Aspects of One-at-a-Time Services. Routuledge.
Proctor, B. (2011). Training for the supervision alliance: attitude, skills and intention. In J.R. Cutcliffe, K. Hyrkäs, & J. Fowler (Eds.), Routledge handbook of clinical supervision: Fundamental international themes. Routledge.
Rosenbaum, R., Hoyt, M.F., & Talmon, M. (1990). The challenge of single-session therapies: Creating pivotal moments. In R.A. Wells & V.J. Giannetti (Eds.), The handbook of brief psychotherapies (pp. 165-189), New York: Plenum Press.
Talmon, M. (1990). Terapia a seduta singola: massimizzare l’effetto del primo (e spesso unico) incontro terapeutico. Jossey-Bass.