Why Clinical Supervision Matters
Starting out as a therapist is courageous, exciting — and also overwhelming. As a therapist, you carry your training, but also your values, your hopes, and inevitably, your fears. Clinical supervision isn’t just a requirement; it’s a lifeline. Ideally, it helps you:
• sharpen your skills
• safely navigate complex or unfamiliar cases
• deepen your clinical judgment
• avoid burnout and ethical pitfalls
• grow into the therapist you want to be (which also means learning to show up as yourself!)
My Supervisory Style: Warm, Supportive, Straightforward
I offer supervision that reflects how I practice therapy: relational, integrative, practical. You’ll get honest feedback, encouragement, and space to experiment — all in a grounded, compassionate environment.
Here’s what you can expect:
• Empathy plus candour: I believe in being compassionate but also direct. I strive to hold safety so you can stretch. But I also want to challenge you — with warmth.
• Tailored supervision: I meet you where you are — your learning style, your strengths, your gaps.
• Relational focus: We’ll explore not only what happens in your sessions but the relational dynamics — between you and your clients, your assumptions, your triggers, your blind spots, .
• Practical tools and theory: I draw from evidence-based models but emphasize what you can use concretely — much like the way I practice psychotherapy.
My Background: What I Bring to Supervision
• Professional credentials: I hold a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto. I am a Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO), member of OAMHP.
• Years of experience: I have spent many years working with individuals, couples, and families in therapy, including complex cases: anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and loss (including ambiguous loss), relationship conflict, divorce, affairs and other betrayals, intimacy (dis)connection, co-parenting, midlife transitions, neurodiversity issues, caretaker burnout, and more. Please see my Couples Therapy page to see how I work with couples clients.
• Multiple prior lives: Before becoming a therapist, I worked in roles that sharpened many of the skills therapists need — storytelling, interviewing (journalism), life transitions, ritual and ceremony (as a licensed officiant), teaching (college and university level) and advocating (mental health). I have 6 years of post graduate academic training both in psychology and in fields that feel theoretically related in terms of its focus on human behaviour and trauma. These inform how I see systems, culture, identity, and meaning in therapeutic work.
• Modality breadth plus specialization: My training includes EFT, EFFT, EMDR, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), IPT, RLT, Gottman, Narrative, Attachment-based models, IFS, CBT, ACT, Mindfulness, Mindful Self Compassion, and more. I integrate models depending on client, issue, and context. That said, I don’t rely on one modality to treat clients. I am integrative and use approaches I feel best suits the person or people in front of me. I believe our work requires flexibility and adaptability. It requires us to build competence and confidence.
I believe this combination gives me a mature, nuanced perspective, which is especially helpful when supervising newer therapists who want to integrate multiple modalities or work with difficult relational, trauma, or transitional work.
Who I Supervise & What I Offer
I supervise therapists, counsellors, RPs-(Qualifying), interns, and practitioners usually in early stages of independent practice, or who are wanting to integrate more of a certain modality (like EFT) or work on a particular lens through which they might view their work (like attachment). Some supervisees have come from short term therapy models and are looking to slow down their approach with clients to go deeper. My supervision works well for those who:
• wish to deepen their relational, trauma-informed, and couples/families work
• want to use modalities like EMDR, Parts work, EFT/EFFT, Gottman etc., or integrate them with their primary approaches
• are navigating complex cases: trauma, grief, neurodiversity, burnout, relational rupture, divorce, blended families, ethical issues
• prefer hands-on, interactive supervision: case presentation, role play, co-therapy observation or video review, feedback, reflection
What Supervision Looks Like: Structure & Logistics
Component Details
Format Individual or Dyadic supervision (can explore group supervision in certain cases).
Frequency: Often weekly, bi-weekly or monthly depending on stage, caseload, and your needs.
Duration: Typical sessions are 50-60 minutes; extended as needed.
Medium: In-person (Hamilton area), via video/online, or phone as needed.
Focus: Areas Case conceptualization, ethics, developmental growth, modality training, relational dynamics, self-care, managing counter-transference, etc.
Resources Readings, suggested trainings, video or audio resources, possibly live observation or recorded session review.
How Supervision Supports Growth & Ethical Practice
Supervision isn’t just about what works — it’s about how you work: how ethics, identity, culture, attachment, power show up in your sessions; how you, as a therapist, carry your own history into your work. I help you:
• recognize blind spots and biases
• prevent burnout, overwork, or vicarious trauma
• maintain clarity about roles, boundaries, and professionalism
• integrate self-compassion and reflective practice into your style
Investment & Access
• I offer rates for supervision that align with my psychotherapy fees though I am open to discussing a small sliding scale depending on your status, income, etc (intern, RP-Qualifying, etc.) if possible. I often suggest finding a partner to cut costs in half. This is why many supervisors have group supervision sessions. I have not yet moved into that area.
• I serve therapists in Hamilton, Burlington, GTA, and also provide remote supervision across Ontario.
• Scheduling works like my regular therapy slots — generally mornings and early afternoons Monday through Thursday.
What I Expect from You
To make supervision effective, here’s what supports the work:
• openness to feedback
• willingness to reflect on your own experience and patterns
• consistent case work, including bringing work in that stretches you
• ethical commitment and curiosity
Getting Started
If you’re a newer therapist (or someone transitioning into a new modality or caseload), I’d be honoured to walk with you as supervisor. Here are the next steps:
1. Free consultation call – 15-20 minutes to talk about your background, goals for supervision, modality interest, availability, and whether I might be a good supervisory fit.
2. Agreement / contract – specifying roles, confidentiality, norms, expectations, scheduling, fees.
3. Initial sessions – we begin with case presentation, discussion of theoretical orientation, strengths, needs.
If you’re ready to deepen your clinical confidence, expand your skill set, and do therapy in a way that feels aligned, grounded, and sustainable, let’s talk. Contact me at cortney@ontariotherapist.com to arrange your free consultation.
Please see my Psychology Today profile for a review from one supervisee.