So you’ve found yourself in a position where you have a site and are gaining direct hours to full licensure. All seems to be moving well except one major thing- your supervisor sucks. After a few months together you realize something is off and things ARE NOT working.
You hear your colleagues talk about how much they’re growing under their supervisor. They feel validated, prioritized and valued. Yay for them. How is it their major concern involves how to track their hours while you’re over here trying to figure out how to survive another supervision session?!
Before jumping ship, I want you to ask yourself a few questions and answer as honestly as possible:
-How have you confronted this situation so far?
-What are some things you may be doing to unintentionally contribute to the problem?
-Do others around you feel the same?
-What needs to change in order for the supervisory relationship to work?
If the answer to the above only highlight all the reasons it’s time to go, then it’s time to go.
First, you need to start from ground zero. The following are steps I would suggest:
- Start hunting for a new supervisor. While there are hundreds of supervisors out there, it may not be as easy as you think to find one who suits your needs.
- Ask the right questions during the interview (check out which questions to ask here).
- Be as honest and transparent about the current problems in your current supervisory relationship with potential candidates. Ensure this won’t be a repeated pattern (ie: your current supervisor isn’t reliable and always reschedules, forgets or changes times on you).
- Secure a new supervisor and ask about an estimated date to begin (I would suggest about a month time frame). Think of it like any other job situation. While 2 weeks is a good notice, sometimes more notice is better.
- Inform your current supervisor. Let him/her know of your plans to leave and maintain supervision as amicable and professional as possible.
- Gather all necessary paperwork. Your CURRENT supervisor has a form to fill out from the board website. This form will account for the numbers of hours you have accrued while under their supervision. This is NECESSARY for you to have once you submit for full licensure. It is better to have all forms now, rather than trying to track them down later.
Then, off you go! Side note, be sure you are accounting for any financial changes (increase or decrease of prices) as well as time constraints (times for supervision will likely change).
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