Valerie Burns is a Doctoral Candidate in Counselor Education and Supervision and is an Approved Clinical Supervisor through the National Board of Certified Counselors. The Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) credential identifies those mental health professionals who have met national professional supervision standards.
Please contact Valerie at [email protected] for information on group and individual supervision.
Supervision Training & Experience
I have completed coursework in a CACREP accredited doctoral program in Counselor Education and Supervision (degree expected May 2023), which includes six credit hours of coursework related to theories of supervision, supervisory roles, professional development benchmarks, evaluation methods, legal and ethical issues related to supervision of counselors, as well as supervisory research-based practices, and culturally competent supervision. An internship in supervision was completed as well, which included 200 clock hours of supervision of supervision by a CACREP approved faculty member.
Additionally, I have completed fifteen clock hours of training in clinical supervision, six hours of law and ethics, and four hours of supervision experience to become a Washington State Approved Supervisor
Approach to Supervision
Supervision is a place to develop the necessary skills and practice of counseling to protect one’s clients and become a competent practitioner. My attachment and trauma-focused lens informs my approach to supervision. I follow a Developmental Model, which adjusts for and to the level of expertise of the supervisee. As a clinical supervisor, I am here to help you learn what you do know and what you do not yet know in a safe and supportive environment that allows you, the supervisee, to be accountable while learning. The needs of the supervisee will change substantially over time, and I aim to support and foster that growth while assuring client and therapist safety. I use a reflective model of supervision whether in individual supervision, group supervision, or tape review. The goals of clinical supervision are:
- To develop competence in standard mental health assessment and treatment modalities while encouraging learning and growing within the field.
- To gain a thorough understanding of theoretical orientations and their practical application.
- To develop clinical skills in assessment, treatment planning, implementation, and documentation.
- To oversee the development of ethical decision making in the clinical setting.
- To model and promote appropriate ways to work with issues of culture, gender, sexual identity and preference, religious affiliation, or other difference in the counseling setting.
- To develop the counselor’s self-awareness and ability to discern what are his/her issues to sort through in clinical supervision and what are the client’s issues so as to avoid counter transference in therapy. While clinical supervision is not therapy, in these instances it may brush up against that boundary as we discern which issues need to be discussed in supervision and which would best be addressed within the supervisee’s own therapy.
- To assist the supervisee in reducing their own professional performance anxiety while increasing their professional identity and areas of expertise.
Degrees and Credentials
- Ed.D. Counselor Education & Supervision (degree expected 2023), Viterbo University
- MS Counseling Psychology (2014), University of Wisconsin-Madison
- BS Psychology (2011), Northern Illinois University
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) – State of Wisconsin #6284-125
- Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor (CSAC) – State of Wisconsin #16142-132
- Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) – NBCC # 834725
- Approved Clinical Supervisor (NCC) – ACS #: ACS-4498
Areas of Competence
- Adult population
- Developmental and relational trauma (CPTSD, DARTT)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Codependency
- Adult children of alcoholics
- Somatic experiencing
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
- Mind, body, emotion regulation