Stalls in Supervision: What to do When a Supervisee Cancels Often

You’ve confirmed the right fit and you’ve been supporting their professional growth through regular meetings. All of a sudden, they are cancelling their supervision meetings several weeks in a row.

“I can’t make it.”

“I need to reschedule.”

“Something came up.”

“Can we please move to next week?”

You’ve responded with compassion and patience, but there’s a part of you that is concerned about the lack of contact. Your supervisee is communicating by text and email, but you haven’t been able to narrow down a time to connect with them by phone. The interactions so far feel surface level and without context. You wonder how they are doing and how the cancellations are impacting their client work in private practice and their ability to hold space for the demands of their clients. 

How do you proceed?

Stay Curious

Recognizing we don’t have the complete context as to what’s happening in our supervisee’s world, it will be important to remain curious as we attempt to re-engage them. Therapists have lives and challenges themselves, much like the clients we serve. It’s possible they are trying to keep everything afloat and are just trying to prioritize the needs of others, putting their supervision and growth on hold in feeling stretched thin. Here are some common challenges faced by supervisees who may request postponement of their supervision meetings:

·      Death or illness in the family

·      Financial constraints

·      Own mental health needs

·      Poorness of fit

Death or illness within the family can put a lot of strain on your supervisee. From the lens of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, they are working on safety and security needs as a foundational element of functioning, most likely putting intellectual demands on hold when trying to address the needs of themselves and others. For example, a supervisee reports their aging mother isn’t doing well and needs to be moved into the family home, putting pressure on the supervisee to make time for getting their affairs in order, pack up their belongings, and facilitate adjustment within the family system to support the transition.  

Transitions can also contribute to the financial strain of paying for quality supervision. Your supervisee reports their spouse just got laid off, making money feel tight and having to make a decision to put secondary expenses on hold, including supervision costs.

The strain of finances can delay supervision due to the therapists’ own mental health needs. Perhaps they are feeling more anxious or depressed after a stressful event like moving their aging parent into their home or having their spouse laid off. Holding life stressors alongside the client work may increase your supervisee’s risk of burnout with the population they serve when trying to juggle their needs with the mental health needs of others.

Lastly, perhaps they are feeling shame, embarrassment or guilt about how they feel in regards to supervision. Are they able to articulate if the fit doesn’t feel right? Are they dreading supervision in worrying what you think of them in their struggles with burnout, anxiety, and elevated stress? Did they feel a disconnect in your last meeting that is preventing them from fully engaging going forward?

Compassion without Counseling

Being curious is the first step, followed by compassion. Encouraging your supervisee to engage in healthy communication about their current circumstance can be helpful to identifying context, including what needs to happen next. It’s not uncommon for supervisors to counsel their supervisees through the stressors, taking a deeper look at how those stressors are impacting their therapeutic work and responsibilities. However, be cautious not to engage your supervisee in a therapeutic role that looks more like a client session than supervision. Recognizing limits by helping your supervisee gain insight into their needs and identifying solutions can be considered appropriate responses, as well as providing referrals to other clinicians for deeper work if needed.

Holding Pattern

When identifying solutions, does your supervisee need supervision put on hold for a series of months? Do you have it written in your supervision contract that they can request a pause in writing? Can you draft a document that shows agreement to suspend or close supervision services until they are ready to re-engage? This may be needed to address financial constraints or life events, including supervisees who take time off for family including maternity leave.

When They Ghost

Remaining collaborative and empowering your supervisee to advocate for what they need is ideal when addressing frequent cancellations in supervision. But what if they stop responding to your attempts to outreach? This can feel uncomfortable for both supervisor and supervisee, resulting in the supervisor having to make some challenging decisions from the lens of responsibility. Similar to client disengagement, the supervisor might give a time limit to responding, which could look like the following:

Hi ______. It’s been a while since we connected, with our last supervision meeting held on 03/06/2020. I’ve attempted to reach you by phone and email for the 6 weeks with no success. If I don’t hear from you by 04/24/2020 at 5pm, I will assume that we need to close services for the time being and will discharge you from supervision, reflecting a discharge date of our last meeting, 3/6/2020.  Please don’t hesitate to reach me at (email) or by phone at (number) regarding this decision. Wishing you the best, ___________.

I understand that the above message can feel blunt and concise, however if a supervisor has been attempting to reach their supervisee with no success, it is up to the supervisor to make the tough decision to close their contract, releasing them from responsibility for the client work the supervisor has not been apprised of by their supervisee. Since the supervision contract indicates a supervisor taking responsibility for their supervisee’s professional conduct and client work, it does not feel appropriate to have a disconnect in communication longer than several weeks. Therefore supervisors are encouraged to take initiative to protect their license in the event that a supervisee disengages and/or violates the stipulations of their supervision contract.

Give Grace

Supervision is a professional relationship that isn’t always easy. Having a supervisee disengage abruptly or without explanation can feel like a loss, like something to grieve. There is the risk of not getting closure or explanation of the change. There is risk of confusion and anger. There is the possibility of feeling like we could have done more as a leader. If this resonates, you are human. Being human also means giving yourself and your supervisee grace during a difficult transition. Understand that supervision is a dynamic relationship just like any other and sometimes it experiences rupture and repair. The hope is that you as a supervisor will feel more prepared for scenarios where supervisee cancellations occur, supporting healthy leadership, response, and communication as a result.

Written by Khara Croswaite Brindle, MA, LPC, ACS