Mindfulness-Based Relational Supervision: Mutual Learning and Transformation

Mindfulness-Based Relational Supervision explores a relational and mindfulness-based approach to adult learning and development that is mutually transformational. The initial focus of the book is a case study that shows the evolution of a dialogical supervision relationship that was transformational for both parties. The authors present their reflections and analysis of key transformational moments that brought insights which significantly enhanced their personal and professional development. The authors adopt an interdisciplinary approach, discussing relational neurobiology and relational mindfulness practice together with ideas from child and adult development, attachment theory, intersubjectivity, somatic experiencing, and adult learning theories. The case study narrative charts the development of the authors’ supervision relationship, following which they share a meta-perspective on their learning journey. Finally, they discuss the implications of the study for the education and training of relational practitioners in supervision, coaching, and related fields. The book will appeal to students, practitioners and supervisors in the helping professions, in particular counselling, psychotherapy, and coaching.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction; 2: Adult transformational learning in supervision relationships; 3: Coming home to ourselves; 4: Case study; 5: Meta-perspective on our learning journey; 6: Personal and professional development for relational practice; 7: Summary and conclusion; Appendix: Excerpt from our supervision agreement

About the Author :
Fiona Adamson is an award-winning Executive Coach Supervisor and author with 40 years’ supervision experience. Working with relational mindfulness has transformed her practice through her ability to be present, compassionate, and loving. This creates the conditions for a mutually rich learning experience. She lives in South Hertfordshire with her dear wife Judith. Jane Brendgen is an Adult Development Coach, Mindfulness Supervisor and founder of Compassionate Cultures, an enterprise focusing on supporting organisations to build compassionate cultures of trust through changing how people relate to one another. Mindfulness and compassion lie at the heart of this work. She lives in a leafy area of Lewes, East Sussex with her Siamese cat Tao.

Review :
'As I read this book, I found myself absorbed in the story of the emerging relationship between Fiona and Jane, and the potentiality that began to unfold. I appreciated the focus on the centrality of a mindful relationship within supervision in order to give space for the vulnerability of being human. This too is my experience of one of the tenets of a mindful approach to supervision. Thank you for putting words to this process.' Alison Evans, PhD, Executive Director and Supervision Lead, The Mindfulness Network 'In this book, Fiona and Jane give a deeply personal account of their journey. In doing so, they invite all of us – as coaches, supervisors, human beings – to join in the exploration of how our internal working models and frames of reference guide our views and behaviour. They offer a pathway, based on relational mindfulness, along which we too can travel to find deeper wisdom and awareness.' Emma Donaldson-Feilder, PhD, Relational Mindfulness Trainer, Executive Coach and Supervisor 'Fiona and Jane weave a beautifully authentic tapestry of two people coming home to themselves through relational work. Their journeys, while unique, are also universal to us all as human beings growing in the direction of greater wisdom and compassion. Increasingly mindfulness is entering into the mainstream as an intrapersonal practice of growth and self-knowledge. This book points to the further growth available through interpersonal mindfulness and the practice of insight dialogue. As vertical adult development grows in prominence, this book may act as an invaluable guide for anyone wishing to transcend the socialised mind and early attachment patterns to become self-authoring. Fiona and Jane chart a key journey from conventional relating (subject–object) to dialogical relating (subject–subject) and beyond. From within this journey, they discover and reveal that the key ingredient in transformational learning is, in essence, love and unconditional acceptance.' Mark McMordie, PhD, CEO, The Conscious Leader 'Thanks so much for inviting me to read this heartfelt exploration of your work together, and the transformative potential of the supervision relationship. It has helped to reinforce and significantly extend my sense of what supervision at its best can be about. I am in awe at the way you have translated and explained your experience of relationship so clearly. I am struck by how effectively you have blended your two voices.' Henry Campion, MB, BS, Executive Coach Supervisor 'The hallmarks of this wonderful contribution include the authors' willingness to role-model vulnerability, their compelling commitment to their own learning and that of others – including ours as readers – the intellectual rigour, and of course, the mindfulness, love and compassion that radiate from the book's pages and underpin their work. These combine in a challenge and invitation to reconsider and deepen our approach to relationships in coaching supervision, coaching and beyond.' Liz Hall, editor of Coaching at Work, and author of Mindful Coaching