Staying Human in a Helping Profession, Part 2: Supervision

When Supervision Isn’t Enough: Why Clinicians Need More Than One-On-One Support

By Emily Hanlon.

Supervision Is Essential, But It Was Never Meant to Hold Everything

Let’s start with something I want to be very clear about.

Supervision is essential. It is ethical. It is protective. it is one of the most important structures underpinning safe and effective clinical work.

And yet… many clinicians leave supervision with insight, clarity, and a solid plan, and still feel strangely heavy.

If you’ve ever walked away thinking, “That was helpful… but I still feel overwhelmed,” you are not imagining things. And you are not doing supervision wrong. Supervision was never designed to hold the full weight of modern clinical practice. It is a pillar, not the entire building.

The Quiet Gap No One Names

Most clinicians don’t question supervision. We’re trained not to. Supervision is rightly positioned as the gold standard of professional support, and for good reason. But what often goes unnamed is the gap between what supervision offers and what clinicians are actually carrying day to day.

That gap is where burnout quietly takes root.

Because the reality of clinical work in 2025 looks very different from the environment supervision models were originally designed for.

Today’s clinicians are navigating:

• Increasingly complex presentations

• High emotional labour with limited recovery time

• Expanding administrative and reporting demands (hello & thank you, NDIS)

• Funding systems that require constant advocacy

• Productivity pressures that prioritise output over sustainability

And much of this doesn’t fit neatly into a 50-minute supervision hour.

What Supervision Does Exceptionally Well

Before we go any further, it’s important to acknowledge what supervision does brilliantly.

Supervision is particularly effective for:

• Ethical decision-making

• Risk assessment and management

• Case formulation and treatment planning

• Reflecting on therapeutic processes

• Ensuring accountability and professional standards

These are non-negotiables. This is the backbone of our profession. Supervision asks:

“What is happening in the work, and how do we respond ethically and effectively?”

And that question matters deeply. But it is not the only question clinicians need support with.

What Supervision Often Can’t Hold (And Why That Matters)

There is a large portion of clinical labour that happens outside of sessions and outside of case discussion.

Things like:

• The emotional residue of sessions that were “fine” but draining

• The cumulative impact of holding multiple families’ distress

• The cognitive load of navigating NDIS, Medicare, schools, and reports

• The pressure of getting wording “just right” so families aren’t disadvantaged

• The self-doubt that creeps in after long days of complex decision-making

• The exhaustion of being the one who holds everything together

These experiences are real. They are impactful. And they are cumulative. But they often don’t sit comfortably within a supervision agenda, particularly when supervision time is limited or tightly case-focused. So clinicians internalise them.

And internalised load is one of the strongest predictors of burnout.

“I Have Supervision.... Why Do I Still Feel Like This?”

This is a question many clinicians ask themselves quietly. Sometimes with confusion.Sometimes with guilt.Sometimes with a sense that they should be coping better. The answer is not that supervision isn’t working. The answer is that supervision alone was never intended to meet all professional support needs. Supervision provides depth; but clinicians also need containment, normalisation, and shared understanding. Supervision is reflective; but clinicians also need spaces where they don’t have to perform competence. Supervision focuses on clients; but clinicians also need support that centres them as humans doing demanding work.

The Myth of the “Self-Sufficient Clinician”

Many clinicians were trained, explicitly or implicitly, to believe that needing support beyond supervision signals inadequacy. That if you’re registered, qualified, and experienced, you should:

• Manage uncertainty internally

• Hold emotional load quietly

• Seek help only when something is “wrong enough”

• Cope independently because others rely on you

This belief doesn’t come from nowhere. It’s shaped by:

• Training models that reward independence

• Professional cultures that value competence over vulnerability

• Systems that normalise high load and low containment

But here’s the reality: Self-sufficiency is not a protective factor in relational professions. Connection is.

The Cost of Practising in Professional Isolation

Psychology is relational work, yet many clinicians practise in isolation (myself included). Private practice, part-time roles, remote work, and high demand mean many clinicians spend entire days:

• Alone in a room

• Holding intense emotional material

• Making complex decisions

• Without opportunities for shared processing

This isn’t a personal failure. It’s a structural reality. But over time, isolation erodes:

• Perspective

• Confidence

• Emotional resilience

• Professional satisfaction

Burnout doesn’t usually come from lack of skill. It comes from lack of containment.

Why One-On-One Support Isn’t Always Enough

One-on-one supervision is invaluable; but it can’t always provide:

• Peer normalisation (“Oh, that happens to you too?”)

• Collective wisdom around systems and processes

• Real-time reassurance for everyday uncertainty

• A sense of professional belonging

There are some questions clinicians don’t need an expert answer for.They need to know they’re not alone in asking. Questions like:

• “Is this normal?”

• “Am I missing something?”

• “Does anyone else find this part exhausting?”

When these questions go unanswered, clinicians assume the problem is them.

Reframing the Need for More Support

Needing more than supervision does not mean:

• You’re dependent

• You’re incompetent

• You’re not coping

• You’re doing something wrong

It means you’re a human working in a complex system, doing emotionally demanding work, over a sustained period of time. The healthiest clinicians I know don’t rely on a single support structure. They build layers. Supervision is one layer. Peer reflection is another. Community is another. Practical tools and shared knowledge form another. This isn’t over-supporting yourself.

It’s practising sustainably.

Support Between the Sessions Matters

Burnout rarely happens in sessions. It happens:

• Between clients

• After hours

• While writing reports

• While advocating with systems

• While carrying unanswered questions alone

That’s where clinicians need support that is:

• Accessible

• Normalising

• Practical

• Non-competitive

• Ongoing

Not everything needs a supervision hour. Some things need shared understanding.

Where the Clinicians Forum Fits

The Clinicians Forum was created because supervision alone wasn’t enough, not because supervision failed, but because clinicians need more than one container. The Forum exists to:

• Reduce professional isolation

• Normalise uncertainty and learning curves

• Share real-world system knowledge

• Offer practical tools that reduce cognitive load

• Provide a psychologically safe space to think out loud

It’s not about replacing supervision. It’s about supporting clinicians between supervision sessions. Where supervision goes deep, the Forum goes wide.

If you’re reading this and recognising yourself, I want you to hear this clearly: Needing more support doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for this work. It means you’re paying attention to your nervous system.

And that’s not weakness.

That’s clinical wisdom.

If you’re ready to explore a more connected, sustainable way of practising, you can learn more about the Clinicians Forum here:👉 https://www.theplayfulpsychologist.com/plans-pricing

You don’t have to carry this work alone. You were never meant to.