Reflect with peers
More perspectives. Clearer boundaries.
A dependable container
Four features of a useful consultation space.
A shared purpose
The group names the practice questions it is equipped to explore and the situations that need a different source of support.
Thoughtful facilitation
A facilitator protects the process, makes room for multiple perspectives and prevents one voice from becoming the default answer.
Careful information sharing
Participants minimize identifiable client information and agree on confidentiality practices appropriate to the setting.
Responsibility remains personal
Consultation broadens thinking. Each practitioner remains responsible for their own judgment, records and professional obligations.
Consultation is not supervision
Similar conversations can carry different responsibilities.
Peer consultation
Colleagues offer perspectives within a peer relationship. The group does not automatically create a clinical supervisor–supervisee relationship or satisfy a registration requirement.
Clinical supervision
A defined professional relationship with supervisory roles, responsibilities and standards. Eligibility and structure must meet the requirements that apply to the supervisee’s purpose.
A first-meeting agenda
Agree on how the room will work.
- 01
Name the group’s purpose, scope and intended participants.
- 02
Agree on attendance, preparation, facilitation and decision-making.
- 03
Set practices for protecting client information and group confidentiality.
- 04
Discuss conflicts, dual relationships and how concerns will be addressed.
- 05
Choose when and how the group will review whether it remains useful.
Interested in convening or joining a group?
Tell STEP about the kind of consultation, participants and format you have in mind. We can receive the inquiry without promising placement or group availability.
Need clinical supervision?