May 2020 Clinical Supervision Topic: Unconditional Positive Regard

I’m looking forward to seeing you all this month. Our supervisions in April talked a lot about navigating workspace challenges, setting boundaries, cognitive empathy and good, quality self-care.

This month we’re continuing our year-long focus on the common factors theory. We’ll focus on unconditional positive regard. I hadn’t heard of unconditional positive regard until I was in my first year of graduate school and working for Boys and Girls Aid at their (now defunct) Pettygrove House, a residential treatment facility for girls who had been adjudicated to Oregon Youth Authority. I was overwhelmed and confused by this new-to-me population and did not know where to start. Luckily my supervisor there introduced me to the term unconditional positive regard, and I found my starting point. (And ending point, let’s be honest. Those of you who have a skillset for working with adolescents, you have my deepest admiration and awe!).

For our sessions this month, check out this article (a 3-5 minute read), and then watch this episode of Carl Rogers doing a counseling session with a Black man discussing his pain, anger, and experience with racism.

I’ll be sending out links for our individual and group sessions this month, so keep your eyes out for that.

Chat soon, and send any questions my way, as always.