Shauna Paynter, -Clinical Supervisor (RCC-ACS and CCC-S)

Shauna Paynter is the author of Presence Is the Practice, a reflective and clinically grounded book written for therapists, counsellors, clinical supervisors, and helping professionals seeking greater depth, integrity, and sustainability in their work.

At its heart, Presence Is the Practice explores a foundational question in modern psychotherapy and clinical supervision:
What if the most powerful intervention is not what we do, but how we are?

Drawing from person-centered therapy, somatic psychotherapy, relational practice, nervous system regulation, and transpersonal psychology, Shauna invites readers to move beyond technique-driven models toward an embodied, ethical, and relational way of working. Rather than offering prescriptive methods or step-by-step interventions, the book focuses on the practitioner’s inner stance—how we listen, how we stay present, how we tolerate uncertainty, and how we trust the innate resources within clients, supervisees, and ourselves.

Each chapter is intentionally structured to support both reflective learning and embodied practice. Through clinical inquiry, supervision themes, and contemplative reflection, readers are encouraged to slow down, notice internal experience, and attune to the relational field as a source of meaning, regulation, and healing. The book speaks directly to the lived realities of therapeutic work, including ethical responsibility, therapist wellbeing, relational safety, and the challenges of practicing with depth in complex clinical environments.

Presence Is the Practice is especially resonant for practitioners who feel the limits of performance-based or technique-heavy approaches and are seeking a more humane, nervous system–informed, and relationally grounded way of practicing therapy and supervision.

This book will be of interest to those who:

• Practice psychotherapy, counselling, or clinical supervision

• Work from person-centered, relational, or somatic orientations

• Are interested in nervous system regulation and ethical clinical practice

• Value reflective practice, presence, and professional integrity

• Seek sustainable, depth-oriented approaches to therapeutic work

Presence Is the Practice is not a manual to follow, but a companion text—one that practitioners can return to again and again as a grounding reminder that presence itself is the foundation of effective therapy, supervision, and ethical clinical work.

A purchase link will be available soon.