Anarchy in Clinical Supervision

Phoenix Therapists' Hub is proud to host Anarchy in Clinical Supervision, presented by David Meer, LPC. This event reflects our commitment to enhancing connections among therapists in the Valley and serving as a central hub for professional growth, education, and community. At the Hub, we aim to provide a space where therapists can come together to share knowledge, strengthen their practices, and support one another in their work as mental health professionals.

Summary

Clinical supervision in traditional models often emphasizes a compliance-based approach shaped by a culture of fear and liability. Supervisors, positioned as gatekeepers, enforce ethical and legal standards through hierarchical structures that perpetuate unbalanced power dynamics. This top-down approach frequently places supervisors as the sole evaluators of supervisee behavior, leading to dependency rather than fostering mutual growth.

The overemphasis on adherence to evidence-based practices prioritizes institutionalized knowledge over individual creativity, stifling supervisee autonomy. Relationships in traditional supervision models often overvalue the supervisor’s expertise, inadvertently undermining the supervisee’s agency and experiential knowledge. Supervisors are also burdened with organizational leadership roles, enforcing bureaucratic mandates such as productivity metrics, further entrenching compliance-driven priorities that detract from meaningful collaboration.

In an anarchist supervision model, we aim to disrupt these traditional dynamics by flattening power structures and decentralizing authority. Anarchist principles would envision supervision as an instrument of joy, strength, and harmony—liberating the process from top-down control and moving toward a system of mutual support and shared growth. It is about creating open access to resources, fostering collaboration, and prioritizing the human connection in supervision. This 1.0 CE Hours course will explore how we can embrace these principles to make supervision a space of liberation, creativity, and empowerment

Learning Objectives

• Deconstruct biases embedded in professional counseling supervision.
• Challenge traditional models of supervision in professional counseling, rooted in hierarchical and bureaucratic structures.
• Explore how to decentralize power to build a collaborative supervisory relationship that fosters trust and autonomy, while maintaining compliance with professional standards.
• Redefine the purpose of supervision as a tool for mutual growth, empowerment, and support.

*Neurodiverse Counseling Services has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7531. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Neurodiverse Counseling Services is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

**Contact us at [email protected] for accommodation requests.

Host or Publisher Neurodiverse Counseling Services