New Year, New Hope

Good morning to you, my first subscribers, my first readers of Supervision with Tom. I can safely say I’m going into this with a little confidence because I’ve been writing on substack for over a year now - this is just a new venture.

Whether you are one of my supervisees or someone just looking for supervision via newsletter - hello - and thank you for being one of the first.

This post is free for everyone - but please note by the end of January a paywall will be active. So only my supervisees and paid subscribers will have access.

I have timed this first official post so it reaches you just before the New Year. I hope that you are all in the depths of rest and relaxation right now, but with the knowledge that with a new year, brings new hope.

Yes every day is the start of another 356 days, but many of us are so conditioned to see the 1st January as the “start” that we might as well roll with it. I find new year can be a great time to stop and reflect, assess, take stock, and plan. This is something for you to do as an individual, a practitioner and something you might encourage your clients to do.

Reflective practice prompts for you.

Heading into the new year ask yourself, “what do I want my practice to be like in 2026?”

• Is there a topic you’d like to learn more about?

• Is there a specialist area you’d want to dip your toe into?

• Are there any trainings you’d like to do?

• Do you want to change your rates, availability, work load?

• How do you want to grow?

For me, if you haven’t guessed I’ve a few priorities, I would like to increase the amount of supervision I offer, reduce my client load and continue to focus on more writing.

Prompts you might choose to use with your clients

Around this time time of year I like to ask my clients a couple of questions, perhaps they resonate with you too:

• What would you like your 2026 to be like? (Remembering they have a whole 365 days to work with, it’s not just January resolutions). We’re not looking for one path - just options - see quote below.

• Where have we been and where are we going? - Essentially opening the floor for a check in. Are they getting what they want from these sessions? What has gone well so far, and what else do they hope to work on.

Personal reflections from my clinical, supervision, and teaching work

A theme of choice has come up in my work with clients recently. Choice for anything, from do I self harm or not through to who will I choose as a partner. Humans like choice, it can help keep us feeling in control. Personally I think we usually have a lot more choice than we give ourselves access too. Psychological defences and personal blocks can get in our way, get in our clients way.

When I am working with clients struggling with choice I might encourage them to read The Choice and perhaps The Gift by Edith Edger. They have existential / logo therapy themes and can help clients to understand more when their therapist is harping on about “choice”.

Resources I’ve found helpful and relevant

A colleague and close friend of mine who used to work with the Youth Offending service sent me over this guide for writing notes with pre-trial work, I found it simple and informative. Might be worth a look: Guide to Note Taking

What I’m reading right now

As I write, I’m reading Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella. My mum got it for me and I was like - oh right then - puts that down for later (never). But I picked it up a year later to try and I’m actually really enjoying it! And this quote stood out about options:

“The idea of a single “path” is unrealistic. You see these people making plans for their careers, love lives, etcetera, etcetera. But, let me ask you, how often does anything actually go to plan? Never, Brian. It never does! I don’t make plans, I make options. I pursue experiences, places, people. You’ve got to think bigger. Just cultivate some options.”

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Anyway, thats all for the first official Supervision with Tom. As always, I am open to feedback and to those of you who I work with already - any thoughts or reflections from this feel free to email me or bring it to next supervision.

Thanks for reading,

Tom

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