Mindfulness-based supervision is a component of a mindfulness-based teacher training pathway and ongoing practice in line with the BAMBA Good Practice Guidelines for Teaching Mindfulness-based Courses.

Mindfulness-based Supervision can provide you with an invaluable opportunity to reflect upon and inquire about your mindfulness teaching and practice with an experienced mindfulness-based teacher. A key aspect is that everything that happens within supervision is held within a container of mindfulness and then brings the inquiry process into the exploration of the supervisee’s experience.

“Supervision provides me with a space in which together we can explore my teaching and personal practice and my internal processing. The safety of this space and the trust that has built up between us enables me to go to the edges of my practice and to hold more tenderly my humanness. Our relationship supports my development and deepens my understanding of mindfulness.”  – a Supervisee

Unlike other experiences of supervision that you may have had, mindfulness supervision focuses not only on your teaching work, but necessarily includes your personal mindfulness practice and how it impacts on your work and your everyday life. Also unique to mindfulness supervision is that the session itself is imbued with mindfulness in terms of practice, embodied presence and compassion. The sessions may include live, on-the-spot teaching practice and feedback, inquiry around issues arising in your teaching, discussion based on videoed sessions, discussion about your personal practice and/or some periods of practice. 

The sessions are very much a collaborative process. The intention is to create an alliance between you and your supervisor that will foster an open and creative exploration of your personal practice and how it might interweave with your teaching and mindfulness in work.

Core members of the Mindfulness Network have collaborated on the development and publication of a framework, which details the framework our supervisors use within supervision – A Framework for Supervision for Mindfulness-Based Teachers: a Space for Embodied Mutual Inquiry. This framework, used by our supervisors, continues to evolve – see our most recent version.

This framework has also been the basis for supervision training offered through Bangor University and the Mindfulness Network. In Chapter 21 of the ‘Essential Resources for Mindfulness Teachers’ book, Alison Evans – our Supervision Lead, has introduced this framework and supervision from the perspective of supervisees.

We send out a Supervision-focussed Newsletter three times a year. Sign up to our mailing list to stay informed about supervision developments, training, blog posts and events.

Read more about Supervision via our blog.

The mindfulness-based supervision offered through the Mindfulness Network is mainly for those training or for those who have already trained to teach mindfulness-based (primarily  MBSR, MBCT) or compassion-based programmes (MSC, MBCL). We suggest that before applying for supervision, you have begun your training with a training organisation who is a member of BAMBA – the British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches.

We acknowledge that many teachers also deliver other types of mindfulness-based interventions. Some of our listed supervisors have knowledge and experience in these other programmes, and/or could support your teaching with the foundational aspects of mindfulness that you bring to your teaching. 

We also offer supra-vision to mindfulness-based supervisors after their initial mindfulness-based supervision training.

We also offer the option for group supervision.

Before you choose a supervisor, it is important to know what you want to get out of supervision. We recommend you visit the Choose a Supervisor page where you can search for a supervisor by specialism, population, etc and check their availability.

Once you’ve narrowed your choice down to two available supervisors, please visit the Apply For Supervision page and complete the application form with as much detail as possible. The information you give us helps supervisors decide if they are able to supervise you at application stage.

Our supervision coordinator will oversee the process of your application so there is no need for you to make direct contact with supervisors.

Once your chosen supervisor receives your application, s/he will contact you for a brief chat to make sure that you have compatible schedules, ask further questions and for you both to ensure that you are a good match.

Once matched with a supervisor, your supervisor will then refer to the information on your application form and arrange an initial contracting session. During your initial contracting session, you and your supervisor will discuss your intentions and needs and how you will work together. You will also speak about practicalities such as; confidentiality, safeguarding, cancellations, reviewing supervision, cost and payment. 

If you are interested in joining a group supervision or group supra-vision please contact supervision@mindfulness-network.org. You will then be registered on our Community site to access more information and make contact with the available group supervisors/supra-visors. Groups are arranged in blocks of 4 x 1.5 hours with 4-6 people. The cost varies according to how many people are in the group. More information and details about forthcoming groups is available once you have registered.

Some people choose to have sessions weekly, fortnightly, for either an hour or 30 minutes. Our experience is that an hour gives more time to explore themes and processes in a more spacious way. Some supervisors are willing to adjust the cost of supervision for a 45 minute session, this should be discussed and agreed when the supervisor first contacts you.

You can discuss the frequency of sessions at any time depending on your supervisor’s availability. We recommend that when you are teaching your first few courses that you arrange to have a supervision session before the course begins, as well as during the eight-weeks.  

As your experience develops, you may decide to space the sessions out so that they are regular and ongoing rather than linked to specific teaching commitments. 

Unless you live or work near your supervisor, supervision generally occurs via telephone, Skype, Zoom or other remote methods. If you are unfamiliar with these methods of supervision, it may seem a little strange to begin with, but it does offer advantages over face-to-face supervision in terms of convenience and because you can choose a supervisor from anywhere. Your supervisor will be familiar with offering supervision in this way and will guide you through. You will be responsible for any costs of calls.

Generally, you will set the agenda of the sessions, what material(s) to bring, and how to apply the learning gained. The supervisor may wish to be emailed in advance with a provisional agenda for the next supervision session in order to make the best use of time. All of this can be discussed in the initial contracting session. The supervision process will aim to encourage investigative dialogue and exploration around the issues brought to supervision or arising in the session. This is very much a two-way learning process, though guidance may be offered as appropriate.

Your supervisor will arrange the fee with you directly, based on our standard fee bands below:

½ hour initial contracting session with supervisor – £25

1 hour individual session – £50-£60

½ hour individual session – £25-£35

Employer surcharge – £10*

DVD viewing – £35

Shared supervision with two supervisees – £50-£75 per hour (2 people)

Group supervision 4-6 people (minimum 4) – £120 per person (4 people) / £80 per person (6 people) for a block of 4 sessions each lasting 1 ½ hours

*Recognising the administrative overhead of dealing with employers, supervisors may add a surcharge up to £10 if your employer is paying directly; where possible we would recommend that supervisees pay themselves and reclaim on expenses to avoid the charge. Responsibility for payment remains with the supervisee.

Payment terms and fees for your sessions will be agreed and arranged directly with your supervisor. The supervision contract is also arranged directly with the supervisor, the Mindfulness Network acts as an advisory body and supports signposting to quality supervisors. Some supervisors are also happy to offer 45 minute sessions.

If supervisors are able to offer reduced rates this will be clearly stated on their bio. Please note that we also have a bursary for assistance with the cost of supervision for between 3-6 sessions specifically to support teachers working with specific projects within under-represented communities where funding is yet to be established.

In most circumstances, our registered supervisors do not provide clinical supervision. The supervisee will be expected to have a separate arrangement for this if this is required. This does not preclude supervisees from using the process to explore their mindfulness practice with different client groups and in different settings, but mindfulness-based supervisors cannot take responsibility for direct clinical work.

Some problems can be resolved by speaking with your supervisor first. However, if you have done this already (and your issue hasn’t been resolved) or don’t feel able to talk to your supervisor, please feel free to contact us our Supervision Lead – Alison Evans: alison@mindfulness-network.org.

We recruit new supervisors when we identify particular gaps in our supervision provision so that we can ensure that mindfulness-based teachers can access supervision for the specific populations they work with and the type of work that they do.

All of our supervisors meet our stringent Good Practice Guidelines. These will give you guidance about training and skills required to become one of our supervisors in the future.

We have a rigorous recruitment process. On application, candidates need to identify how they meet all our Good Practice Guidelines and have recommendations from their own supervisor and supervisor trainer. The Supervision Lead, Alison Evans, with the support of other experienced supervisors, will then shortlist, followed by an interview and selection process.

If you are interested in joining our team we will advertise any vacancies via our website and social media channels.

We have a team of supervisors who are skilled in offering supervision of supervision for both individuals and small groups. In many ways, supra-vision is very similar to supervision. The principal difference is that supra-vision holds a meta perspective, i.e. looking at the responsibilities and tasks of the supervisor across the breadth of their work with their supervisees, rather than having the teacher and their participants as the focus.

A small group of supervisors within the Mindfulness Network decided to meet as a working party to explore aspects of supra-vision as a common area of interest. Read more about the working party’s thinking around the concept and application of supra-vision.