Welcome
The British Association for Supervision Practice and Research (BASPR) was founded in 1989 by Michael Carroll and Maria Gilbert. They were aware that there was no forum for counselling and psychotherapy supervisors to meet, discuss, update and network and set up BASPR as a means of meeting that need.
Some History
BASPR started as a one day conference each year in the summer University term and its first conferences were help at Roehampton Institute. In 1991 they held the first two day BASPR international conference on Supervision at Roehampton Institute and had a wonderful array of participants, quite a number from the USA.
Since then, the yearly conference became the trademark of BASPR and a number of features changed:
1) The conference became a two day non residential conference.
2) Participants widened to include supervisors and supervisees from other professions e.g., coaches, social workers, psychologists etc
3) A conference committee was established in 1993 comprising five people: Michael Carroll, Maria Gilbert, Paul Hitchings, Terri Spy and Brigid Proctor (since retired).
4) When money was available small research projects in supervision where supported (over the years BASPR has made contributions to approximately five research projects two of which were at doctoral level).
Mailing List
If you would like your name added to the Mailing List, please your full postal address to the Conference Administrator: Amanda Shribman or write to Amanda at PO Box 56914, London, N10 3YL.
Published Work
One conference proceedings has been published as a book:
Carroll, M. and Tholstrup, M. (2001) Integrative Approaches to Supervision. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Our Conference
The annual BASPR conference has now become a regular feature in the professional calendar and attracts up to 120 participants from a variety of professional backgrounds. The conference is characterized by Keynote Addresses, workshops and live supervision as well as group disquisition, plenary sessions and good opportunity for networking. It is held each year at St. Mary’s College, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, London.
Maps and directions to St. Mary’s College can be found here.
This Year’s Conference
This year’s conference will be held on Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 July 2010. The theme for 2010 is: “Competent Supervisors: Imprisonment or Liberation?”. With the best intentions in the world, our liberations can become our prisons. We set up structures and supports to help – we need to ensure that, over time that they don’t result in losing our freedom. This can happen with supervision. Supervision is beneficial in a number of ways and to the various stakeholders involved: clients, practitioners, organisations and the professions. It is hoped that it brings new insight, new learning and new developments that support individuals, teams and organisations grow and do their work better. But could it also restrict us? By making supervision mandatory could we make it artificial and a box-to-be-ticked rather than an exciting review of work? Is it possible that supervisees would hide their work from supervisors and defeat the very purpose of supervision? Perhaps our age of regulation mitigates against the very quality we seek and reduces our effectiveness rather than increase it. This Conference will struggle with that debate: does supervision constrict us or does it liberate us?
Keynotes will occupy the morning of each day. There will be an opportunity after each keynote, for the audience to have a brief discussion and put questions to the speakers. There will be a place for more formal discussion of keynote content in small groups followed by dialogue with keynote presenters on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Both days will offer workshop choices after the discussions.
To book a place, please download a booking form and post, together with your payment payable to “BASPR Ltd” to Amanda Shribman, BASPR 2010, PO Box 56914, London, N10 3YL
