A small group of CSTD Graduates and all members of staff met at Barrow Castle for the day on May 7th. It was a stimulating event led by Peter Hawkins with some input from a couple of Graduates, Richard Sale and Liz Mason, who ran discussion groups in the afternoon.
Peter’s talk focused on the theme of ‘Resourcing’ ourselves as Supervisors. Some key ideas include:
– how do we work from ‘source’ rather than effort
– how do we not fall into over-serving our supervisees, but create a collaborative engagement
– supervision is not just a restorative activity….but one that tries to develop capacity within supervisees to live with disturbance and fragmentation (for example)
– supervision is not a ‘petrol station’ for filling up with fuel….it is more a place where we can get re-energised…using ‘solar panels’ for renewable energy
– a place to find meaning and purpose in work…to fall in love again with our work
Peter also upheld a position of working from a place of compassion, seeing life as a generous teacher, having gratitude for the events that bring us the next lesson in life
With a delicious Buffet lunch, and a meditative walk around the grounds of the Castle, it was indeed a nourishing day.
We plan to hold similar events at Barrow Castle approximately once a year, sometimes on a Saturday, sometimes Sunday, and in different seasons in order to appreciate the setting at different times of year. Future days are likely to include opportunities to give/receive supervision in order to include development of one’s own practice
Jane Purkiss on behalf of the CSTD Staff Team