The first Supervision Studio launched on Sunday 16th February at Brunswick Mechanics Institute.
Supervision Studio draws on inspiration from a range of sources. For those of you who completed a Master of Creative Arts Therapy at RMIT, you might remember a final year subject that I facilitated in 2008 and 2009, “Advanced Studio Practice”. This subject sat alongside the final placements, and took place in the fine arts studio in a warehouse in North Carlton. Students would bring stories, issues and moments from their field placements, and we would workshop them together using intermodal arts based practices surrounded by easels, art materials and the creative space.
These workshops have remained in my memory over the years for the dynamic, experimental methods that we used, and the art based approach to reflective practice. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to work within professional teams alongside drama therapists who share the love of experiential approaches to supervision, and I have continued researching creative approaches in the art therapy literature. My approach to running Supervision Studio is inspired by, and draws on, all of these experiences. I seek to create a collaborative, safe, creative and dynamic space where therapists come together with the shared intention of sharing stories from practice, viewing dilemmas through artistic lenses, and engaging in embodied, experiential, reflective practice.
The eight participants warmed up with action methods, were guided to explore real stories and dilemmas from their work through body sculpting and drama, employ the role of the artist/witness, use individual art making for personal processing, and collaborative learning through connection and group sharing.
Some of the feedback from participants included:
“Carla can hold depth really well”.
“I felt my concerns were heard”.
“I’m normal”.
“The venue is great and relaxing”.
For more information about Supervision Studio please visit
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