In this interactive first part of a 2-part workshop series, Gillian Walter and Shirley Smith introduce a creative and refreshing interpretation of Hawkins and Shohet’s 7-Eyed Model of Supervision, inspired by the world of Winnie the Pooh. In this workshop, Gillian will share how she developed a metaphorical approach to the model, making it both powerful and playful, designed to bring out the inner supervisor and open up new possibilities in supervision.
Participants will engage with metaphors, perspectives, and creative tools to help deepen their reflective practice and find new ways of being present in client sessions and reflective practice. The Winnie the Pooh stories serve as a backdrop to illustrate ideas, but participants do not need to know the model or the stories.
Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event
- Using metaphors and creative exploration to unlock new perspectives in supervision cases
- Explore how to creatively bring models to life in client supervision work.
- Noticing and creatively working with assumptions and inner-critic ‘Party Poopers’
Who is This Workshop Appropriate For?
- Practitioners in the people professions such as Coaches, Supervisors, Counsellors, and Therapists.
- Those looking for fresh approaches to supervision and reflective practice.
- Professionals open to using creative, metaphorical, and playful techniques to enhance their sessions.
- This session is about playful exploration using this model and the Winnie the Pooh stories as examples. Anyone who prefers a more academic understanding of the 7-Eyed Model of Supervision or wants an idea of who the Winnie the Pooh Characters and stories are, can find this information online and in the Onlinevents CPD library.
How May This Workshop Impact Your Practice?
Attendees will leave with:
- A raised sense of creative presence in their client work.
- New ways to approach supervision cases, less about “getting it right” and more about being present.
- Confidence in using creative tools, such as imagery, story, and metaphor.
- A fresh approach to the 7-Eyed Model, allowing flexibility and a light-hearted, exploratory practice.
Participant Feedback Highlights:
- “Using a creative approach has opened up my practice. My inner child came alive, and I’m so excited to use these tools in supervision!”
- “A fresh way to engage with the 7-Eyed Model, less about rules, more about being present.”
- “This event made me rethink how I approach supervision. I’m more curious and willing to explore new lenses.”
- “The workshop made supervision fun! It’s transformed my perspective.”
- “A creative, insightful, and enjoyable way to deepen reflective practice and boost confidence.”
- “I left with a sense of ease, not needing to hold the model rigidly in my mind.”
Course Content
Organisation
Independent Supervisors Network hosts International Supervision Week with Onlinevents
Presenter
Gillian offers a safe space that’s held lightly. There’s room to explore with playful curiosity or serious conversation; whatever’s called for.
Gillian is a master coach, supervisor, mentor, artist, owner of Inside-Out Coaching and author of 7 Choir of Brave Voices books and creative reflection resources. Accredited by the ICF, EMCC, EASC and CSA, her client work stems from creative, narrative and somatic coaching and supervision methodologies with a specialisation in working creatively and supporting clients’ reflective practice. British born, she now lives and works in Switzerland with her family and Schnauzer.
Gillian works with creativity and metaphor to build safe and abundant space for working and thinking from new perspectives.
Shirley Smith is passionate about the potential of working with creative methodologies in supervision. She has been actively involved in enabling the ongoing development of leaders as a vehicle in support of wider culture and systemic change.
Shirley works mainly in multi-cultural environments around the globe from her current base in Vienna, Austria. She mainly provides supervision to individuals and small groups who are keen to access supervision as part of their own ongoing professional development and self-care. They also want to develop their own practice in working more ‘creatively’. She has been experimenting more recently with ways of making creative supervision accessible online and also with and without video. A kind of learning laboratory.
