ABSTRACT
There is an increasing recognition within the United Kingdom counselling field that it is generally preferable for a supervisor to be a practising counsellor (BAG1 1996: B.2.1). This parallels a shift away from managerial supervision to non-managerial supervision or consultative supervision (Bond 2000). As we predicted in 1994, Britain has seen a significant increase since then in the number of counsellors taking on the role of supervisor. Indeed this remains the most common route by which people become involved in counsellor supervision. There are exceptions to this, with some supervisors of counsellors coming from backgrounds in training, management, social work, education or consultancy; but these are in the minority. Alongside the possibility of movement into training, consultancy or management, supervision is the obvious additional career option available to the practising counsellor. In predicting this development for the United Kingdom we were reflecting a process that had already taken place in the United States of America, where the counselling profession has been established for somewhat longer.
