What to Expect from Your First Supervision Session
Introduction
It's finally here — you're officially starting supervision!
If you've been lucky, you've already had a chat with your new Supervisor and have some idea of what to expect. If you're going in blind, you might be thinking, oh gosh, what will my Supervisor be like? Let alone wondering what you're actually going to talk about for the next hour or so.
You might also be feeling a little nervous about what your Supervisor will expect you to know, particularly if you're newly registered or haven't started practising as a Behaviour Support Practitioner (BSP) yet. But don’t fret too much; your first supervision session isn't supposed to be a test of your knowledge. It's an opportunity for you and your Supervisor to get to know each other, understand where you're at professionally, and start working out how supervision can best support you.
To help ease some of that worry, let's talk about what a typical first supervision session might look like. I'll use my own approach and that of other Supervisors I know as the basis for this discussion, although everyone will have their own way of doing things.
Preparing for Your First Supervision Session
You don't need to arrive at your first supervision session with everything figured out, but a little preparation can help you get more out of the time together.
Your Professional Development and Learning Goals
As a Supervisor, it's incredibly helpful to receive a new Supervisee's Learning Goals before or during our first session. I like to have a read through these and get a sense of what the person is hoping to achieve from working with me.
If you're newly registered through the New Entry Level Pathway, you'll likely already have a Professional Development Plan (PD Plan) that we can use as a starting point. If you're an experienced practitioner, you might have developed Learning Goals based on areas of practice you'd like to strengthen or challenges you've encountered.
Of course, almost everyone's first Learning Goal is to progress to the next level of the PBS Capability Framework! It's probably the clearest professional development goal you can have in PBS. But I'm also interested in what you'd like to learn along the way. Are there particular skills you'd like to strengthen? Areas of practice you're less confident in? Or things you've been wanting to explore but haven't had the opportunity to yet?
Don't worry if you're not completely sure what your goals should be. We can explore these together during supervision, and they should change over time as you develop your skills and experience.
Preparing an Agenda
You might also like to prepare an Agenda for your first session. This is much more likely to be useful if you're already practising as a BSP and have questions or scenarios you'd like to discuss straight away. You might be working through a challenging assessment, feeling unsure about a recommendation in a Behaviour Support Plan, or wanting another perspective on a situation with a stakeholder.
An Agenda doesn't need to be complicated. A few dot points in an email can be enough, although some practitioners prefer to use a more formal Agenda and Minutes document. This does make it easier when you want to go back to look at recommendations your Supervisor made or situations we brainstormed together. Plus, having a record of your supervision discussions can be handy for audits and may provide useful evidence of your professional development when working towards your next PBS Capability Framework level.
If you're completely new to the field, and possibly haven't even started practising yet, you probably won't have much to put on an Agenda. That's perfectly fine! Your Supervisor will likely take more of the lead in your first session, asking questions and helping you identify what you'd like to work towards.
If your Supervisor has asked you to send anything through before the session, try to allow them enough time to review it. For example, I ask my Supervisees to email their Agendas at least an hour beforehand where possible.
What You Might Discuss During Your First Session
I usually ask similar questions whenever I'm conducting a first supervision session. These help me get to know the practitioner, understand their experience, and identify how I can best support them. They also help me complete the Case Notes document I maintain for each Supervisee. This document keeps track of things like your BSP registration details, where you practise, your professional background, Learning Goals, PBS Capability Framework progress, and what we've discussed during supervision.
So, if you’re having supervision with me and notice I’m looking away or typing during our session, I'm probably taking a note so I don't have to ask you the same question again next time. I’m not sure if I really should reveal this part as I really enjoy the surprise when I bring up a specific detail from ages ago and my supervisee wonders how I remembered it. The magic is gone.
Getting to Know You
One of the first things I like to explore is how you came to work in Positive Behaviour Support. Everyone has a different pathway into PBS. Some practitioners have spent years working in disability services, while others come from teaching, psychology, social work, allied health, or entirely different industries. I'll usually ask about your previous experience, what attracted you to PBS, and how you've found the transition into the role.
This isn't just making conversation. Understanding your background helps me recognise the skills and knowledge you're bringing into practice, as well as areas where you might benefit from additional support.
It's also an opportunity for us to start getting comfortable talking to each other. After all, we're hopefully going to be working together for quite a while!
Understanding Your Current Practice
If you're already working as a BSP, we'll usually spend some time talking about your current role and caseload. I might ask how many participants you're supporting, whether you're working with restrictive practice, what types of assessments and plans you've been completing, and how you're finding your workload.
I'm also interested in the support you have available through your organisation. For example, do you have experienced practitioners you can ask questions? Does your workplace provide training and opportunities to collaborate, or are you working fairly independently? This helps me understand what your day-to-day practice looks like and where external supervision might be most valuable.
If you have a particular concern or clinical question you'd like to discuss straight away, we can certainly make time for that too.
Exploring Your Confidence and Development Needs
We'll also talk about how you're feeling about your skills and professional development. You might be very confident conducting interviews but less comfortable selecting assessment tools. Perhaps you're confident writing Behaviour Support Plans but unsure how to evaluate whether they're being implemented effectively. Or maybe you're finding that you know what you should do in theory, but applying it in practice is a little more complicated, AKA, why is no one using my Behaviour Recording Form!
I might ask which parts of PBS practice you enjoy, what you find challenging, and whether there are situations where you regularly second-guess yourself. These conversations help us identify meaningful Learning Goals and decide what we should focus on in future sessions.
And please don't feel you need to make yourself sound more confident or experienced than you are. I'd much rather know where you're genuinely at so we can work on the things that will make the biggest difference to your practice. I don’t know it all either so there’s no pressure here.
If You're Newly Registered and Not Yet Practising
This is where first supervision sessions can look quite different. If you're newly registered and haven't started practising yet, we obviously won't have a caseload or current clinical scenarios to discuss. Instead, we'll probably spend more time looking at your PD Plan, discussing the PBS Capability Framework, and exploring how you can prepare to begin working as a BSP.
We might talk about what the PBS process looks like from receiving a referral through to developing, implementing, and reviewing a Behaviour Support Plan. We could also explore what you're most looking forward to, what you're nervous about, and what support you'll have available when you start practising. For my own Supervisees, this is often where I introduce the case study training I offer. It gives practitioners an opportunity to practise applying PBS skills to realistic scenarios before, or alongside, their work with participants.
The aim isn't to fill the session with information you need to memorise. It's to understand where you're starting from and begin identifying the experiences and learning opportunities that will help you develop.
Understanding How Supervision Will Work
Your first session is also a good opportunity to clarify how your ongoing supervision arrangements will work.
Even if you've already signed a Supervision Agreement, there might be practical things you're still unsure about. Every Supervisor has slightly different preferences, so it's worth taking some time to understand how they like to work. For example, I usually explain how I prefer Supervisees to prepare for sessions, how they can send me documents for review, and what to expect when I provide feedback. We'll also discuss how to contact me between sessions if a question comes up, and what to do if something urgent happens.
I also like to make sure we're on the same page about how we'll approach professional development. This might include regularly reviewing your Learning Goals, working towards your next PBS Capability Framework level, or using training activities to strengthen particular skills.
One thing I think is particularly important to understand is that supervision should be collaborative. Your Supervisor might have more experience in PBS, but that doesn't mean you need to agree with every recommendation they make. As you begin working with participants, you'll often know far more about their individual circumstances than your Supervisor does. You should feel comfortable asking questions, explaining your reasoning, and respectfully challenging recommendations where you have a different perspective.
Of course, there may be situations where your Supervisor needs to be firmer about a recommendation, particularly where safety, restrictive practices, or professional standards are concerned. But even then, you should be able to have a conversation about the reasoning behind it. Ultimately, the goal is to help you develop your own professional judgement, rather than become dependent on someone else to make decisions for you.
What Should You Ask Your Supervisor?
Remember, your first supervision session isn't just an opportunity for your Supervisor to get to know you. It's also an opportunity for you to learn more about them and how they work. If you've already had an introductory chat, you might have covered some of these questions. But if you haven't, or something comes to mind during your first session, don't be afraid to ask!
About Your Supervision Sessions
How should I prepare for future supervision sessions?
What kinds of questions or situations can I bring to supervision?
Can I contact you between sessions if I have a question?
About Your Professional Development
How will we work towards my Learning Goals?
How can you support me to develop my PBS Capability Framework evidence?
Are there particular skills you think I should focus on first?
Are there any training opportunities or resources you'd recommend?
About Feedback and Support
How do you usually provide feedback on documents?
How will I know whether I'm making progress?
What should I do if I feel like I need more support?
You certainly don't need to ask every question on this list! Choose what’s relevant for you, and remember that you can always ask more questions as your supervision relationship develops. A good Supervisor should want you to understand how the relationship works and feel comfortable raising concerns or asking for clarification.
What Happens After Your First Session?
By the end of your first session, you and your Supervisor should have a better understanding of what you'd like to achieve together. You might have identified some immediate Learning Goals, agreed on topics to explore in future sessions, or decided to work through a particular training activity. If you're already practising, you might also have discussed a current situation and identified some next steps to take before your next session.
After a first session, I usually email my Supervisees an information guide explaining how our ongoing supervision arrangements work. This gives them something to refer back to rather than expecting them to remember everything we've discussed!
Your Supervisor might also suggest some reading, ask you to reflect on a particular question, or recommend an activity to help develop your skills. You can write these in your Supervision Minutes or Record; you can even have a specific follow up section set aside for this.
As your supervision relationship develops, your sessions will probably become more focused on your current practice, professional development, and the challenges you're encountering. You might eventually find it shifts towards deeper values-driven discussions or about your next big career move as a BSP. That's part of what makes supervision valuable. It's not just about addressing the challenges you're experiencing now, but recognising how much you've developed over time.
Conclusion
Your first PBS supervision session doesn't need to be something you feel nervous about. You don't need to arrive with all the answers, an impressive caseload, or a perfectly developed Professional Development Plan. What matters most is being willing to reflect, ask questions, and take an active role in your own learning.
Remember, supervision isn't supposed to be about proving how much you know. It's about having someone you can talk things through with, learn from, and turn to when you're unsure about something. And, as mentioned, while your Supervisor might have more experience in PBS, you bring your own knowledge, experiences and perspectives to the relationship too. The best supervision conversations are often the ones where both people are willing to explore different ideas and challenge their thinking.
So, if you're preparing for your first session, my biggest recommendation is simply to come ready to talk about where you're at and where you'd like to go. The rest is something you and your Supervisor can work out together.
Looking for PBS Supervision?
At The PBS Practitioner Place, I offer individual supervision for newly registered and experienced Behaviour Support Practitioners across Australia. Whether you're just beginning your PBS journey or looking to strengthen your existing practice, my approach focuses on reflection, professional judgement and practical capability development.
If you'd like to see whether we'd work well together, you're welcome to book a free introductory chat through my website.
