Pointing Towards Supervision: Tao of Supervision Part II – UPCOMING SEMINAR

In the I-Thou relationship, human beings are aware of each other as having a unity of being. In the I-Thou relationship, human beings do not perceive each other as consisting of specific, isolated qualities, but engage in a dialogue involving each other’s whole being. In the I-It relationship, on the other hand, human beings perceive each other as consisting of specific, isolated qualities, and view themselves as part of a world which consists of things. I-Thou is a relationship of mutuality and reciprocity, while I-It is a relationship of separateness and detachment.

~ Martin Buber, Austrian-born Israeli Jewish philosopher

UPCOMING SEMINAR
The Benefits of Supervision: Evening Seminar with Genjo and Jack
Date TBD

Jack Blackburn & Genjo Marinello

Jack Blackburn and Genjo Marinello have been providing training and writings about different kinds of professional supervision for many years, both together ands separately. Find out more….

In my writings, I have dealt with many issues that affect bodyworkers, clients, and community. I have dealt with issues that stem directly from clients’ bodies in order to help them grow in conscious awareness. I own here that it would have been impossible for me to write those articles, or even teach the classes that I have taught without the many types of supervision I was receiving at the time.

Here is some background. Much more is available on my website. When I was told in graduate school that I would be required to receive various types of supervision, I was appalled! Like the letter I quoted above, I had resolved never to go back to corporate America… never to have somebody tell me what to do.

What I found was completely different. The supervisors I worked with helped me with many of the dilemmas I faced in working with clients, challenged me to design my own goals and achieve them, helped me to start sharing experiences of my inner life for the first time, helped me work through many of my childhood issues, helped me define my practice of body-centered, client-centered spiritual direction and bodywork. In short they helped me to know myself.

Sixteen years later I am still drawing  upon those sharings and in one case am still working with the same supervisor. I can unquestionably say that those sessions changed my whole life. I was supported by those individuals in every way possible and to reach further in my life than I ever thought possible.

As a profession, bodyworkers are now facing the prospect of required supervision. Some on the massage board may be concerned that, without adequate oversight, bodyworkers could be susceptible to moving beyond their depth of training and “scope of practice.” Some in the community may advocate that the real reason for supervision is so the supervisor can provide answers in the form of advice and guidance to the practitioner. This corporate view of supervision misses the point that for supervision to work it must appeal to practitioners and empower their growth.

In my ethics classes (Ethical Dilemmas in Bodywork) I have introduced concepts of peer supervision so that practitioners can create peer groups for discussing their own ethical dilemmas and other professional concerns. The core process of peer supervision is about listening without prejudicial responses, and not about offering advice. Peer supervisors are there for one another, as friends and as colleagues, to offer the support of listening and witnessing.

“Listening into Being,” a phrase borrowed from spiritual direction, means that when we are truly listened to, we are enabled to hear our own inner truth. In my own teaching of supervision I lead groups and individuals through a process of silent listening, which means to listen to another without responding with affirmation or repudiation. This is a basic starting point for learning true supervision.

Even something as simple as asking a question can be a form of giving advice or offering approval or disapproval. So it is an important first step to practice silent listening. Silent listening allows supervisor trainees to hear the chatter of their own minds… called “metathought”. Until we practice silence, we stay unaware of how much we are listening to ourselves rather than others. It can take a long time of practicing silent listening until we become comfortable with the silence of no-thought, one of the signs of presence.

As a profession we bodyworkers can provide that kind of support for one another. Our work is probably the most intimate of all forms of caregiving. As we accompany clients over the years we are witnessing for their changed relationships with their bodies. We are addressing the instrument of their livingness, the body, in a caring and affirmative manner. If we journey with them long enough we may witness their transition towards less physical and more spiritual existence. As we change, our bodies change, our work changes, it is very helpful to have our friends and colleagues witnessing for us. As we recognize those changes within ourselves, we start to recognize that our supervisory relationship is one of the deepest relationships we will ever have.

Jack Blackburn’s Focus Group 2010

 

~Jack Blackburn © 2010

Pointing Towards Supervision: Tao of Supervision – Part I

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him… But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, “We did it ourselves.”~ Lao Tzu

When I wrote my first article about supervision for bodyworkers many years ago… I received an email that stated “I became a bodyworker to get away from bosses. I certainly do not want someone to look over my shoulder and tell me what to do.” I realized after writing that article that the word “supervision” has deep implications that come from the corporate world.

Supervisors in that world are persons who are set up to manage what we do. They work at the behest of the company and therefore are often not responsive to our needs and concerns. Their loyalty is to the corporate structure and to the stock holders. Their job depends upon getting the most output and highest quality from us

Real supervision is a fine art that requires deep listening, into the presence. This form of listening is quite rare and must be carefully cultivated. Listening to another with full attention requires that we drop beneath our own thoughts and judgments. You can test this out be observing your own mind as you are listening to a friend, a client or a colleague. You will find your mind anticipating, projecting, making up stories, distracting, and looking for solutions. We rarely admit to ourselves or to others that this is happening. If you observe the body language of persons who are having a conversation, you can notice the revealing choreography that accompanies the conversation; eyes out-of-focus, attention to cell phone or wrist watch, body turned away, foot tapping, yawning, and watching other persons or activities. All of these internal and external dynamics seem to happen whenever we listen. But there is another way.

Listening

When we develop the ability to listen inside into silence and stillness a different kind of conversation ensues. Something, some awareness, begins to emerge within both persons… I call it the emerging intrinsic. That something feels different… there is peacefulness… a cocoon of curiosity and meaning… and a willingness to be quiet. In this kind of listening supervisor and supervisee are participating in something quite surprising… vitalizing… spacious… and intimate. Nothing seems to separate thoughts and feelings… and close listening. The listening becomes mutual; surprises can happen… because neither person knows what is coming next. There is a listening into presence itself, which seems to form the core of the conversation.

If you are employed in a corporate structure like an HMO or being paid by an insurance provider, “supervision” can be required to support the interest of the corporation or provider. It can also be required by the massage board in order to ensure that practitioners remain accountable to the guidelines and edicts of the profession.

Most bodyworkers are self employed and independent of corporate structures. Most are self directed and responsible mainly to themselves. How can we look at supervision as a benefit for self-employed practitioners and their clients? We must start from a different premise; practitioners are accountable to themselves and their clients.

The practitioner-client relationship is the core of the supervision process. As with corporate organizations, supervision is still driven by goals and values, but the practitioners decide the goals and values jointly with their supervisors. Supervisors provide appropriate support and challenge in the interest of the practitioner and the client. They secondarily represent the interests of the profession.

Proposed principles of professional supervision for the self-employed practitioner:

Principle 1: The main quality of the supervisor is “listening.” Supervisors support practitioners and their client relationships by listening, questioning, challenging, and reflecting.

Principle 2: We all have resources to discover inside as well as ways to express those resources. Part of the supervisor’s role is to aid these discoveries and expressions.

Principle 3: The supervisor is an advocate for practitioner and client and therefore needs to be committed to non-judgment… not judging, rescuing, qualifying, certifying, punishing, or rewarding the “supervisee”.

Principle 4: Supervision is not about answering questions but exploring them together. Supervision is only secondarily about getting or giving advice or guidance. Supervisees need to learn to do their own work.

Principle 5: The Supervisor witnesses and mirrors your questions and responses in order to awaken your trust in your ability to develop your own work and your own inner guidance.

Principle 6: In order to be there fully for the supervisee, the supervisor must be in supervision.

Principle 7: The truth is that the answer to a problem usually lies within the supervisee. One art of supervision is to affirm that truth and empower practitioners to find their own answers inside.

Principle 8: Supervisors serve to promote integrity and balance within the supervisee and the practitioner-client relationship.

Principle 9: Supervision is about developing three relationships: practitioner/client, practitioner/supervisor, and practitioner/self.

Principle 10: Supervision can become a life-long relationship. I call this a partnering into Being, a discovery of what lies within both persons. Some of the deepest relationships in human history have been based on the mutual commitment between supervisor and supervisee.

~Blessings, Jack

© Jack Blackburn 2010

 

Jack Report from Japan ~ Bicycling and Upcoming Supervision Seminar

Jack and Hide ~ bad boys

“Riding Mothers”

Dear Ones, Jack here, writing from Tokyo. It has been a while since I have written about my experiences of living part of the year in Japan. Yesterday I was talking with a friend on Orcas Island, Washington, about bicycles and their importance here in Japan. First people start riding bicycles at a very early age. Mothers ride their young children on the backs and fronts of their bicycles. Often I am riding along on my way to a train station or a local Starbucks to do some writing, in a space that allows no smoking, and I’m passed by a mother with two children on her bike. At first this was very disconcerting. I know that that mother has been riding almost all of her life, so she must have very strong legs and a good cardio system, but… how is it that she can pass me when I am going at a fairly fast clip? Many of the “riding mothers” have boosting motors on their bicycles. So I feel a little better about my riding abilities. However not all the “riding mothers” have booster motors and sometimes they still pass me… oh well! On the narrow street between Koito’s apartment and the Chitose Funabashi train station there are often traffic jams of “riding mothers” on their way to and from shopping.

Bicycle Park

Bicycling is only secondary to walking as a means of getting to and from the train stations. Our station bicycle parking lot holds about 1,000 bicycles and is overseen during the day by three very kind gentlemen, and costs 100 yen for twelve hours parking. However, if we get there after 8:30 a.m., all the parking spaces are usually taken by men and women in their business attire, and students in their school uniforms who take the early crowded trains. Then we have to search for an overlooked slot and that’s where the three gentlemen are helpful. It’s not that there aren’t automobiles in Tokyo, it’s just that often traffic is very crowded and finding space to park can be a nightmare. So most persons who have steady schedules use their bicycles at some point on their journey. With my bicycle I have been able to explore wider and wider swaths around where we live. My Japanese bicycle is very basic and easy to ride.

Sidewalk

Next I want to report something that would be completely overlooked by a Japanese reporter because it is so commonplace here. Cyclists and pedestrians use the sidewalks here much of the time. Pedestrians walk in a straight line in Japan and they are very sensitive to the sound of bicycles. In the beginning I was very nervous about coming up behind a group of students or elder persons because I was afraid I would run into them, however I noticed that other riders would not even slow down as they passed. The sidewalks are the same size as those in Seattle and are much safer than riding on most roads. But I realize that I hardly ever ride on the sidewalks in Seattle because I can’t predict what a pedestrian will do. Also the other thing I realize is that the courtesy between bicyclists and pedestrians here is amazing. It’s a hard thing to fathom but I don’t think “road rage” exists in any form in Japan… perhaps because everyone expects everyone else to get where they need to go. The system of everyday courtesies seems to be based on an attitude that competition in certain areas of life is destabilizing and dangerous.

Bicycling Elder

Finally I want to also mention that elderly persons ride bicycles in Japan as regular occurrences. There are many elders on bikes and they are just as stable as anyone else, not like the proverbial “grannies on Harleys” image that we have in the States. Bicycles are regular means of transportation here and so commonplace and accepted that the health benefits of riding are accepted as a normal factor in life There are no “ride in” protests here because bicycles are not a political issue. And when there is a shutdown of trains, and roads because of earthquakes, tsunamis, or typhoons, everyone’s bike is still there waiting to be used. So everyone knows that they can get there, in spite of emergencies and other shutdowns. I write these lines because I am fascinated with this aspect of Japanese life. I still love riding in Seattle on my 18 speed bike, especially along the Burke Gilman Trail and other places that are exclusive for bikes and pedestrians, although fairly competitive and sometimes dangerous.

UPCOMING CLASS in SEATTLE: Taking the Plunge in Peer Supervision Seminars

• Apr 23 ~ 6 to 9:30 pm
• May 21 ~ 6 to 9:30 pm
• June 18 ~ 6 to 9:30 pm

CEU Value: 3 Price: $40 for one person, $60 for two
To Register: CLICK HERE

These seminars in peer supervision will be guided by 3 long-time bodyworkers, Cara Ross, Andrea Munson, and Julie Onofrio, who have been in supervision with Jack Blackburn for 10 years and also have held their own regular peer supervision group meetings during that time. Over the years they have covered significant issues from their practices, including ethical material, business plans, starting new ventures, burnout, difficulty saying: “no”,conflicts between personal and professional goals. They have deepened their listening skills, grown tremendously in their abilities to support one another, been strong witnesses for bringing out one another’s fears and challenges, and also witnessed one another’s forward growth and maturity over the years. They want to support others now in accomplishing the same thing for themselves. They will gently guide you through the stages of learning peer supervision, setting up your own groups, and most important, balancing your work with your support of one another.