Clinical supervision is an essential tool for dietitians in private practice - a supportive relationship and brave space that allows you to reflect, learn, and grow in your career.

 
 

What is Clinical Supervision?

As dietitians, we learned a lot in our training. We sweated our way through all the hard science classes (biochem, organic chem, microbiology, oh my!). We pulled all-nighters memorizing the Krebs cycle. We became experts in medical nutrition therapy, learning how to manage and treat a wide range of health conditions through nutrition.

And yet, with all that training there was a lot we didn’t learn:

  • How to counsel a client beyond short-term, education focussed encounters.

  • For most of us, eating disorders, Intuitive Eating, and Health at Every Size® were not a part of our curriculum. If you were lucky to have some exposure, there was no training on how to actually communicate these approaches with clients or support them in navigating a weight-centric world.

  • How to run a private practice in a market that’s been completely transformed by social media and availability of virtual options.

  • How to care for ourselves as helping professionals and entrepreneurs, because our practice is only as sustainable as we are.

Our training doesn’t stop after passing the RD exam. Clinical supervision, while not a common practice in dietetics (yet!), is the gold standard for therapists and counselors, and is required in many cases. In supervision, you work 1:1 with a dietitian mentor to build your clinical skills, get guidance navigating difficult cases, and gain confidence as a clinician. It’s also a space for emotional support, as we know how challenging this work can be. Think of supervision as therapy for your clinical practice!

About Me

I have been practicing as a dietitian since 2008 and have been doing outpatient nutrition counseling for most of that time. In 2014 I launched my private practice after I began to dive more deeply into non-diet approaches, including Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size®, and the treatment of eating disorders. I still remember those early days of integrating non-diet approaches into my practice, and because of that I have a particular love for working with dietitians who are new to eating disorder treatment and weight-inclusive dietetics.

I consider supervision to be an essential part of my practice. I have previously received individual supervision from Evelyn Tribbole (co-author of Intuitive Eating) and eating disorder and body image expert Marci Evans. Currently I receive regular supervision from Anna Sweeney. I have also completed a specialized training intensive on providing supervision with Fiona Sutherland and Lisa Pearl.

What I hope to bring to supervision: empathy, humor, clarity, creativity, curiosity, confidence, collaboration, reflective listening

With my supervisor, anna sweeney, at a weight-inclusive dietetics conference training in 2019

Sample topics for supervision

Navigating difficult cases

Building a weight-inclusive practice

Coordinating care and working in a multidisciplinary team

Space to vent frustrations

Supporting clients in body image work

Business related questions

Incorporating therapeutic modalities like ACT, DBT, and CBT to your clinical practice

Boundary setting, with clients and in business

Weight-inclusive medical nutrition therapy

What does a supervision session look like?

In our first session, we’ll spend a little time getting to know each other, and I will ask some questions to learn more about you, your practice, and your goals. In a supervision session, you are responsible for setting the agenda for our session by bringing questions or topics for discussion. To help with this, I will provide you with a supervision questionnaire prior to our session, which will help guide the session and prompt you to think through what you hope to get our of our time together. In session, I will help you unpack and explore the topics and questions you bring for discussion, and help keep on track with your agenda.

  • Supervision is generally recommended every other week or monthly.

  • Supervision sessions are held on a secure videoconferencing system.

  • Nope! While I practice from a HAES-aligned approach, and you would be getting feedback from a weight inclusive perspective, I work with dietitians who are still learning about HAES, or may be conflicted about weight inclusive practices.

  • A 60-minute supervision session is $150.

  • Yes! I provide individual case consultation and education for providers who are interested in learning more about how to integrate Health at Every Size, Intuitive Eating and other non-diet approaches to their practice.