Shared Vision Supervision

To practice as a Relationship Mentor ongoing attendance at shared vision supervision is a fundamental requirement of membership of IARM.

The term Shared Vision is used to describe the process of on-going reflection on practice required of Mentors who belong to IARM. Those who provide the safe holding for the Mentors to carry out the Shared-Vision process are referred to as Shared-Vision Practitioners.

All Shared Vision supervision must be undertaken with a qualified IARM shared vision practitioner. Click here to find a qualified Shared Vision Supervision practitioner.

The purpose of Shared Vision is to ensure in as far as possible the wellbeing of all concerned in the Mentoring Relationship – Client and Mentor alike. The Shared -Vision relationship, between Mentor and the experienced fellow Mentor trained as a Shared -Vision Practitioner, is a co-creational experience, one of equality and of unconditional relating.

A key element of Shared Vision is a deepening of conscious awareness; conscious awareness of relationship with self and relationship with others through the systematic reflection on all that arises for the Mentor in the course of her or his Mentoring practice.

Through Shared Vision, the Mentor has an opportunity to bring into consciousness any emergency feelings that may be arising, any personal sensitivities that may be touched off, any confusions being felt and any unconscious protective responses that may be coming into play in the interactions with the Client – for example, judgement, withdrawal, helplessness, hostility, hopelessness, feeling unappreciated, feeling controlled, depression, anxiety or perfectionism.

It is only through such reflection that the Mentor can have a sense of what she or he is bringing to the Mentoring Relationship – whether what she or he is bringing is coming from an open or protective inner space. If the Mentor becomes aware of coming from a protective place then the query arises as to what care is being called for in the interests of the Mentor’s wellbeing; a query which can then be pursued with the support and encouragement of the Shared-Vision Practitioner. When the Mentor’s care needs are openly addressed, then they will not need to intrude as a hidden agenda into the relationship with the Client.

In the Relationship Mentoring approach, it is recognised that compassion, kindness, care and sensitivity for the Client begins with compassion, kindness, care and sensitivity from the Mentor towards herself or himself.

Through Shared Vision, the Mentor’s knowledge and conscious understanding deepen so that she or he can respond more affectively, effectively and efficiently to the literal and metaphorical meaning of the revelations of the client.

This relationship is also a source of emotional and practical support for the Mentor and a space for discussion and clarification around the values and ethical practice that safeguard the dignity and rights of both Client and Mentor. Very importantly, it provides an opportunity for the Mentor’s self-reflection plan to be explored and for discussion around her or his personal and professional needs in the interests of continuing emergence into conscious awareness and openness.

Peer Shared Vision is also a valuable support for Mentors and creates the space for sharing of information, discussing new research and for mutual emotional support.

Of course, the relationship between the Mentor and the Shared-Vision Practitioner is again a co-creation with all the challenges that that brings. Accordingly, there is a responsibility for the Shared-Vision Practitioner to also engage in her or his own Reflection Process – with another who is in the position to provide the necessary safe holding – so that she or he is conscious of her or his responses to what the Mentor is bringing to the session and conscious of her or his own relationship with self and ensuing relationship with others. If the Shared Vision Practitioner should fall into defence and not be able to stay open and real in the relationship, then within the Shared Vision space the Mentor has the opportunity to challenge what is occurring in the relationship between them.