Supervisor Requirements
NZAC Supervisor Requirements
The following information is to assist Supervisors to be fully aware of NZAC’s expectations of Supervisors, and to identify further professional development that will be helpful to be an effective Supervisor for NZAC counsellors.
Supervision and the Code of Ethics
The NZAC Code of Ethics and the current NZAC Supervision Policy, both of which can be found on the NZAC website, describe what is required of supervisors. You will find a substantial body of helpful information about what is expected of NZAC supervisors in those documents. We recommend a thorough reading of Section 9 of the Code of Ethics and the NZAC Supervision Policy.
Members who wish to offer supervision are required to have been full Members of NZAC for five years.
Professional Development & Qualifications for Supervisors
The Code of Ethics and Supervision Policy does not specify a qualification in supervision is required. However, a qualification in supervision is the preferred standard, just as a formal qualification in counselling is required for membership.
If you wish to become a supervisor for other NZAC counsellors, you need to take responsibility for acquiring a credible qualification in professional supervision. That means identifying a course that best supports your development as a supervisor of NZAC counsellors. Several providers offer qualifications in supervision.
Choose one which includes as many of the following features as possible.
• Is suitable for supervising NZAC counsellors.
• Incorporates Te Tiriti o Waitangi and cultural competency components.
• Provides knowledge of other indigenous models of counselling and supervision.
• Has a practicum component.
• Offers enough flexibility to suit your circumstances (e.g. some programmes will provide distance learning options).
• Is of a sufficient and credible level.
Getting Started
Attending shorter training courses and workshops on professional supervision is one way to become more informed about supervision. There may be credible “starters” available from time to time, such as NZAC workshops in supervision provided nationally. Choosing Competency No. 10 and making supervision the focus of a CPD plan is another way of advancing your knowledge of supervision theory and practice. We also strongly recommend discussing your interest in supervision with your own supervisor.
Exemptions
If you are already an experienced supervisor in another related professional association, have completed a supervision qualification or training, and have only recently become a full Member of NZAC, you can apply for an exemption from the five years full Membership requirement. This will involve supplying a CV, describing your experience and supervision education so far, and a letter of recommendation from your supervisor. That material can be emailed to the NZAC Supervision Committee Convenor (email link below). Members of the Supervision Committee will review your material and get back to you.
If you have recently migrated to Aotearoa, it is especially important to have completed Puawānanga Kaitiakitanga, which involves at least three consultations with a Puawānanga Kaitiaki (Māori cultural supervisor).
If you have been providing supervision for Māori practitioners in a Tikanga Māori setting, you can ask for a letter of recommendation from the NZAC Māori Roopu. There are also members of the Māori Roopu on the Supervision Committee, and they can give additional guidance to the Supervision Committee when it considers your application for an exemption from the five-year Membership requirement.
Additional Considerations
• CPD requirements – you need to support counsellor’s CPD by reading the CPD requirements, helping counsellors to set appropriate learning goals, discussing their CPD at least three times across the membership year, checking that self-reflections on their CPD learnings are of sufficient depth and that counsellors are able to describe in writing how their learning has influenced and improved their practice of counselling. Some counsellors may need help with submitting their CPD Plan and Record on the NZAC website.
• Provisional Members – support provisional members to meet their requirements for upgrading to full Membership, including writing the Supervisor’s Report and being able to help Provisional Members to develop a plan for completing the Puawānanga Kaitiakitanga requirements.
• Integrate Puawānanga processes across all supervision practice.
• Encourage counsellors to access information and publications on the NZAC website, and attend branch and national workshops, webinars, conferences and branch meetings.
• Recommend reading and research relevant to supervisees’ needs.
• Write comprehensive and proficient supervision reports accompanying counsellors’ membership applications and organisational requirements.
• Encourage counsellors to take an active part in the life of the Association.
Contact Supervision Convenor for more information
supervisionconvenor@nzac.org.nz
CPD Frequently Asked Questions for Supervisors
The 10 areas of competence have been carefully researched and intentionally developed to specifically reflect the profession of counselling. The competencies are broad, offering space for you to choose an area of development, which you can link to your supervision education, supervisees, counselling students, research, management, and other professional development needs.
Yes, given Puawānanga Kaitiakitanga is one of the main objects of the NZAC Constitution and a life-long learning process, all NZAC members are expected to choose this competency every three years.
Yes, you are expected to engage with a cultural supervisor to discuss, reflect and expand your cultural understanding.
CPD is only visible to you and your supervisor when they are submitted online. No other member has access to your CPD area. The National Office staff and the Audit Team Convenor have administrator access to assist members with the online process. National Office staff and the Audit Convenor follow NZAC privacy and confidentiality procedures and policies which includes attention to dual roles and any conflict of interest in the auditing process. If you are selected for audit, the CPD auditors will have access to the CPD during the auditing period only. To protect your confidentiality, write in generalised terms rather than divulge in-depth, personal information. For example, rather than My mother died on and this affected me…. You should prefer to say something like; recent whanau death led me to reflect further on living with loss which meant…
All members are to choose two competencies out of the 10 provided by NZAC. Once the two competencies are chosen, members are required to create a plan and submit reflections on their learnings.
All practising members are responsible to be continually being engaged in CPD to update their practice. The emphasis of the CPD process is on the member being reflective to best support themselves as practitioners and to continually refine their practice to benefit themselves, their clients, and their supervisees. The spirit of the CPD is a supportive learning process and a ‘look at’ (audit) of professional standards.
The CPD year runs from 1st March - 1st April the following year (1st March 2023-1st April 2024). However, we encourage supervisors to work closely with their supervisees to make sure they are working to a slightly tighter time frame to accommodate any changes needed to be made to reflections.
Yes, it is expected that these members will be completing continued professional development to support their counselling practice. It is suggested that their CPD is closely linked to their membership upgrade requirements, for example, the competencies of Ethics or Puawānanga Kaitiakitanga to minimise their workload.
No, provisional members’ CPD submissions will not be audited as the requirements of upgrading to full membership is like an audit process at this stage of professional development.
If you have a chronic illness that makes it difficult to complete your CPD across the year of practice, discuss your situation with your supervisor. Together, you will need to make a plan for what is realistic and possible. If practising in any counselling, supervising, researching, management roles etc., you are expected to complete CPD across the year of practice to support and develop your practice. If unsure, seek further support and guidance from the Supervision Committee, NZAC Office or the CPD Audit Team Convenor
If either of you is unwell at the time of being audited, you can email the CPD Audit Team Convenor explaining your situation and request an extension within NZAC timelines. Also, tick the declaration on the Request for Annual Practicing Certificate.
Discuss with your supervisee and provide guidance to steer them towards a more appropriate direction to support themselves and their professional development needs. A salient example might be guiding your supervisee towards a self-care focus if you are noticing signs of compassion fatigue, difficulties with work-life balance and less self-care.
You may not have recognized this until receiving your supervisee’s online CPD submission. You have an option to not accept their submission and request further development. Offer your feedback for improvement to ensure it reads clearly and has answered the questions
If you already anticipated this situation during the year - some ideas:
• Ask your supervisee what support they already have in place for writing counselling reports etc. Can they use this same support now?
• Suggest that your supervisee keeps their CPD submission on file and adds to it regularly?
• If your supervisee belongs to a peer supervision group, this group could support/help your supervisee to practice verbalizing their answers and writing them down. They could also help proofread your supervisee’s answers?
• If appropriate, suggest the supervisee ask a colleague to proofread their CPD submission for clear written expression.
Discuss in supervision. Perhaps use questions to help them do so allowing them plenty of time (before CPD is due) and suggest further written practice of the reflective process. You are offering them the opportunity to use the time for themselves for self-reflection to get to a deeper understanding which will enhance their practice.
If the reason is that the supervisee’s circumstances have changed across the year, then that can be explained on the CPD submission by the supervisee. Ideally, this CPD requirement would have been discussed at the beginning of the year and included in your supervision contract.
Discuss with your supervisee. Given supervisors are expected to have ongoing discussions with their supervisees about their CPD across the year of practice, you may determine from discussions that the supervisee has not been completing their CPD during the year. Therefore, it should not be a surprise to the supervisee. You can also approach your supervisor, colleagues, the NZAC Supervision Committee or the NZAC Office for support. Potentially, this situation means that the supervisee will not meet the requirements for renewal of their annual practising certificate.
Yes, if that’s OK with your supervisee. You can keep a copy of their file in case your supervisee is audited, and for the small likelihood that you’re asked any questions.
You will receive an email and will be asked to complete a brief member profile showing your area of work and hours of work so auditors can match your completed CPD with your work, client, and or supervisee groups.
The CPD Audit Team Convenor will email your supervisee specific brief feedback, informing them of what they need to do to improve their CPD record and plan so that it will meet requirements. The CPD Audit Convenor will suggest that the supervisee works collaboratively with their supervisor to redevelop their CPD submission. Hence your role is to support your supervisee to work through the areas of development. Then potentially follow up to support further growth in these areas of development across the following year.
You will receive an email from the CPD Audit Team Convenor explaining the results of your audit and detailing further development required with the resubmission time frame.
Yes, and it is an NZAC supervisor's responsibility to have regular supervisory discussions about your supervisee's professional development to support and encourage their learning process.