Reflections on a Year as a Clinical Supervisor

I’ve been a social worker for almost 24 years and this past year was my first in a clinical supervisor position. Admittedly, it’s taken me a long time and a rather circuitous route to reach this level. In my previous jobs, this position simply was not available. At the clinic at which I worked in Queens for nine years, there was one clinical supervisor for the agency at the time, and she was parked solidly in that role. In my next job at a managed care organization, I was working in an unofficial capacity as a “Team Lead,” because there was no budget for the title. Then I had a stroke, and it took me 19 months to return to work full-time. At that point, it was no longer a good fit. In my next position, the clinical supervisors were psychologists with Ph.D.s; I couldn’t break that barrier. When I started looking elsewhere, this current position popped up on Indeed. I interviewed for it, and I was offered it.

In the middle of my career, when I had a solid 12 or 13 years of experience and might have been able to start applying for clinical supervisor positions, I lacked the confidence. It just didn’t occur to me. I was working at the outpatient clinic in Queens, my father was dying, and my brother and I were caring for him out of obligation, not love. We were watching him decline both physically and cognitively and asking each other when he was going to die already. My brother had a…