Supervision for Coaches: What it is and why coaches need it

Supervision for Coaches: What It Is and Why It Matters

Coaching supervision is a professional development practice designed to help coaches reflect on, strengthen, and sustain their coaching work. It provides a confidential space to explore successes, challenges, and personal impact on clients. Whether you’re an aspiring or experienced coach, supervision supports growth, ethical practice, and resilience.

What Is Coaching Supervision?

Coaching supervision is a formal process where a coach meets with a trained supervisor to:

• Reflect on their coaching practice
• Explore challenges in coaching sessions or relationships
• Gain feedback and new perspectives
• Ensure ethical and professional standards are maintained

It is not about assessing competence but about supporting the coach’s development, wellbeing, and effectiveness.

Who Needs Coaching Supervision?

Supervision is for all coaches, regardless of experience level.

• New coaches gain support in handling the dynamics of coaching relationships.
• Experienced coaches use supervision to refine practice, prevent burnout, and maintain high standards.
• Business owners and professionals offering coaching benefit from ongoing reflection and accountability.

If you coach others, even informally, supervision provides a space to process what is working well and what can be improved.

What Can You Bring to Supervision?

Anything that influences your coaching can be explored in supervision. Common topics include:

• Your coaching style and approach
• Case studies and client relationships
• Professional development needs
• Ethical dilemmas or challenging dynamics
• Personal factors that may influence energy and presence as a coach

Benefits of 1:1 Coaching Supervision

In one-to-one supervision, coaches work closely with a supervisor who can:

• Identify patterns in behaviour, thinking, or emotional responses
• Provide tailored feedback and challenge blind spots
• Support deep reflection and professional growth over time

This format allows for highly personalised learning and accountability.

Benefits of Group Coaching Supervision

In group supervision, coaches benefit from:

• A “hive mind” of peers offering diverse perspectives
• Exposure to different coaching styles and approaches
• Shared learning from collective experiences
• Networking and professional community support

Group supervision encourages collaborative problem-solving and widens a coach’s lens on practice.

Why Is Coaching Supervision Important?

The importance of coaching supervision lies in its ability to:

• Maintain high professional and ethical standards
• Improve confidence and effectiveness as a coach
• Provide a safe space to reflect and avoid blind spots
• Support wellbeing and resilience in demanding coaching roles
• Enhance outcomes for clients through a more self-aware coach

When is the right time to get started? 

Sarah Bramall: “I joined supervision as soon as I qualified. Firstly, I’m a natural worrier - I ruminate and overthink. I knew I needed supervision to bring anything that was on my mind that I couldn’t share with my husband, my friends or my coaching buddies, without breaking confidentiality which is fundamental to the coaching relationship. Also, as an ex-teacher, I knew that if I had concerns about how I’d handled something or about a safeguarding issue, I had somewhere to take those concerns. Working in supervision with a supervisor and coaches who were all more experienced than me, really helped me to feel that I was supported.    It took me a while to fall in love with supervision. It started as a ‘should’ for me. When I started my coaching business, I was still teaching, my 3 children were very young and to be honest I found it really hard to commit to 90 minutes a month and to slow down enough to be fully present in a reflective space. I also found it really daunting at first to be in a space of more experienced coaches, but I am so glad that I made that commitment and kept showing up, because with time I began to appreciate it as an incredibly valuable learning space, which without doubt, helped me to grow as a coach.”

Rebecca Daniel: “Despite being aware of the importance of supervision I held back from getting started until I qualified. You could say it was a lack of confidence and self-doubt in being in a room with qualified coaches and feeling exposed to my lack of experience - whatever it was I waited to be ready. These days I encourage others to do things before they’re ready.  Upon reflection, I wish I had started earlier as I believe that being in supervision would have given me that confidence boost to put myself out there as a coach more and experiment with my coaching approach knowing I had a support network to go to with any questions or concerns.”

Ask the Coaches: How has supervision helped you?

When we asked our current supervisees to discuss their experience of supervision, here’s what they said about the impact supervision is having on their coaching: 

• “Getting clarity on the book ends of a coaching relationship - the contract and the closure.”  
• “It's making me more reflective of my practice.”  
• “It’s made having difficult conversations easier.”  
• “Getting clearer on my niche.”  
• “So far, the biggest (and most effective) change has been using an intake survey to establish the client's purposes for receiving coaching AND how they are motivated/demotivated in a coaching situation.”  
• “I’m recontracting at the beginning of my sessions.”

Why we wouldn’t be without supervision?

Sarah Bramall: I engage in both 1:1 and in group supervision. It really helps me to know that when something comes up in my coaching practice, I have a safe space to take it. Supervision helps me to process and unravel what’s going on. I appreciate having a ‘container’ in which I know I won't be judged and that my supervisor will listen deeply and skilfully help me to explore what I have brought. So, I leave the supervision space feeling lighter and clearer.” 

Rebecca Daniel: I enjoy the opportunity to be listened to and challenged on the beliefs I hold, both conscious and unconscious ones. It’s such a privilege to be in a space where you are listened to, truly heard and opportunities to enhance yourself awareness of you as a person, an individual, and as a coach and professional. In a group facilitation experience I thoroughly love sitting back to listen to the cases shared and explored by the other coaches and support them by sharing my own reflections and opinions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Do all coaches need supervision? Yes. Supervision is recommended for all coaches, regardless of experience, to support professional growth and ensure ethical standards.

2. How often should coaches attend supervision? Many professional bodies recommend regular supervision, such as monthly or quarterly, depending on practice volume and needs.

3. Is supervision the same as mentoring? No. Mentoring focuses on skill transfer and guidance, while supervision centres on reflection, self-awareness, and ethical practice.

4. What is the difference between 1:1 and group supervision? 1:1 supervision offers personalised, in-depth reflection, while group supervision provides peer learning and multiple perspectives.