ARC Supervision & CPD
Summer Reflections & Fresh Thinking from ARC AcademyNewsletter
As the sun lingers longer and school terms wind down, ARC Academy continues to do what we do best: revisit the research, refresh our thinking, and re-formulate what therapy can look like — practically, playfully, and with purpose.
Supervision & Self-Support
Looking ahead to autumn, our theme will be Supportive and Restorative Supervision — including frameworks for stress inoculation, resilience-building, and assertiveness skills that protect the clinician as well as the client.What Works for Wellbeing?It’s easy to lose sight of your own needs in the support professions. But small things help. Research and clinical wisdom agree on a few principles:
- Notice what’s depleting you (not just what’s demanding)
- Schedule your breathers, not just your deadlines
- Assert your boundaries early and kindly
- Connect with purpose and people
We believe that burnout prevention is a skillset, not just good luck. Let’s keep sharing strategies that make this work sustainable — and joyful.
Spotlight on Leadership: The Pygmalion Effect
The Pygmalion Effect reminds us that high expectations often lead to improved performance. In therapeutic leadership and clinical supervision, this means:Believing in potential and communicating that belief clearlyCreating a culture where growth and reflection are the normModelling curiosity, calm, and flexible thinkingWhether you’re leading a team or guiding a family through intervention, the expectations you hold silently shape outcomes. Let’s be mindful of the climate we create through tone, structure, and belief. 
New Course Launch: Attention, Mindfulness & Non-Directive Therapy
A new short course is now available exploring attention, regulation, and mindfulness-based therapy, with a special focus on non-directive, child-led approaches for autistic children in the Early Years and KS1. This is a Gestalt-friendly, sensory-aware offering rooted in real clinical questions — ideal for those wanting to refine their thinking around co-regulation, responsive attention, and building rapport beyond directive.
Coming Soon:
Narrative-Level Language Workshop
We’re preparing a new live session on narrative language that breathes fresh life into the classic Bloom and Lahey model, re-imagining how we work with story grammar and expressive language at different developmental stages. Watch this space — perfect for early intervention and lower primary caseloads.
Follow-on Comments & Follow-up Directives
We’ve been delving into some compelling research on how adult responses shape early expressive language. The subtle power of follow-on comments and follow-up directives is being reframed — and we’ll share strategies for how to use them meaningfully in everyday sessions and parent work.
| Appendix: Quick-Reference Handout on Stress Inoculation Stress Inoculation: Mini-Toolkit for Busy Therapists 1. Cognitive Awareness – Know your early warning signs: emotional fatigue, irritability, disconnection – Track your stress triggers and habits of over-functioning 2. Assertiveness Micro-Scripts – “I’m not able to take that on right now. Let’s look at a better time.” – “That needs more time and energy than I have today.” 3. Reset & Reframe – Use 2-minute grounding resets: feet on floor, hand on chest, exhale slow – Reframe self-talk: from “I must” to “I’m choosing” 4. Small Rituals of Recovery – End each day with a completion cue: tidy desk, gratitude note, closing sentence – Use transitions (e.g., walking to car) as mental decompression space 5. Connection & Check-In – Peer check-ins every 2 weeks: 10 minutes of mutual reflection – Ask: “What’s been nourishing? What’s been draining?” Keep this close at hand. Use it lightly but consistently. Little changes add up. |
Whether you’re winding down with the school term or catching a breath between caseload cycles, we wish you space, shade, and moments of quiet sparkle this summer.
Warm wishes,
The ARC Academy Team
Speech & Language Therapy Training & Development 