Integrating Reflective Practice in Family Therapy Supervision

This paper discusses how to integrate reflective practice in the family therapy supervisory relationship. This enables family therapists to think creatively, be insightful, and develop a range of perspectives regarding systemic formulation and practice. It encourages review of the past and promotes understanding in the present with the aim to improve therapists work with families in the future. Reflective practice encourages independent thinking and learning and helps therapists to develop a systemic process of critical enquiry to investigate and critique their own practice. It encourages therapists to be self‐reflective and develop confidence to think hypothetically regarding change. This allows them to pose questions for exploration, construct a new lens to conceptualise therapy and the therapeutic relationship and develop awareness of the personal as well as the professional self.     

Reflective Supervision for Child Protection Practice – Reaching Beneath the Surface

This paper describes a model of reflective supervision for child protection practice that is informed by psychoanalytic theory. Eileen Munro promotes the idea of depth in practice, referring to the skills and knowledge required to undertake the work. Her reports highlight the importance of supervision to provide a thinking space for practitioners where reflection can take place. This paper will explore the importance of supervision in more depth and describe how psychoanalytic ideas can help us understand the complexities of our work with families, anchoring us to a solid theoretical base and helping to make sense of the maelstrom of feelings that are stirred in us as well as in our colleagues and clients.     

Planning and implementing group supervision: a case study from homeless social care practice

ABSTRACT

Effective clinical supervision is increasingly recognised as essential in supporting staff who are working in the field of social care. Using a case study approach, this paper illustrates the processes involved in planning and implementing a group supervision pilot with a team working in a homeless service. The supervision models used to inform and guide this initiative are described and the style and structure of the supervision sessions are discussed. The paper additionally provides a reflective analysis of group dynamics and group processes observed during this work. Subsequent conclusions identify the key features of this process and may provide guidance for other practice settings.     

Cross-Cultural Supervision

A multicultural perspective is essential in the twenty-first century. It is projected that by the year 2010 twelve of our most populous states will have significant minority populations. Thus, the supervision triad of patient, psychoanalyst, and supervisor will most likely contain persons of differing racial-ethnic backgrounds who are confronting problems and concerns in a diverse social environment. This paper uses examples to illustrate how this diverse triad is played out.     

A good fit: the contribution of action learning to supervision practice

This paper discusses the value of action learning for social work supervisors. Recent years have seen renewed focus on supervision as a reflective space and some indications that the tide may be turning in regard to the dominance of managerial priorities within the supervision of direct practice. It is less evident that a similar shift is taking place for supervisors themselves and, anecdotally, many describe their own supervision as having a business focus with limited scope for reflective dialogue. While the traditional functions of supervision need to adapt to fit the responsibilities of those in management positions, it remains true that these staff provide a vital containing role within the organisational hierarchy. For that to be sustained, it is important that supervisors have space and structure within which to process the emotional, intellectual and practical challenges of their work. The integration of action learning sets within post-qualifying courses for supervisors has demonstrated a useful dual function. Firstly, they provide an effective model for group supervision, facilitating in-depth reflection on complex practice issues. Secondly, they offer managers a peer supervision forum; a safe place to explore dilemmas and share the vulnerabilities which belong to management roles as well as practice.     

Videoing Supervision: Messages for Probation Practice

This paper reports on a PhD study, investigating the supervision of women service users (WSUs), by probation officers (POs) based on video data of one-to-one supervision sessions. The research identifies competing agendas of probation in England and Wales – one side emphasises punishment, whilst the other encourages humanistic, relationship-based practices. POs, routinely juggling these opposing expectations, appreciate traditional probation values of giving the WSU a voice and embracing psychodynamic approaches, to provide structure and support in confronting the complexities of officer/service user interactions. However, the data show that driven by managerialist enforcement requirements, it is the punitive discourse which is more frequently translated into practice. Organisational pressures, feelings about the person opposite, the offence or the individual’s background can manifest as conscious or unconscious micro-messages or masking messages. Just as SUs put on masks to disguise negative emotions or feel powerful, so too do POs; POs recognise masks and deceptions in SUs and, similarly, SUs are aware of this dynamic with POs. The research identifies practitioner ambivalence to certain narratives, particularly sexual abuse or poor mental health and, it is argued, reflective supervision is needed to deconstruct difficult personal and professional issues.     

Restoring Meaning to Supervision Through a Peer Consultation Group in Rural Australia

The establishment of a cross-discipline peer consultation group in regional Australia is described. A research project, which explored the impact of the peer consultation on participants, using pre-group and post-group evaluation surveys along with data from an externally facilitated group evaluation session is discussed. Key findings reveal the value of access to varied modes of supervision; the importance of supervision not feeling like being subjected to surveillance; and the contribution that positive experiences of peer consultation have for our participants' well-being. The potential for improved connection and mutual benefits for practice and academia in sponsorship of professional peer consultation by regional universities also emerges from this research. The effectiveness of contemporary workplace counselling supervision arrangements, and of what, precisely, the enjoyment of engaging in case discussions in peer consultation groups is constituted are areas for more exploration.     

Are We Making the Most of Learning From the Practice Placement?

It is almost universally accepted within social work education that placements are a defining feature of training and ‘… have a more profound and lasting impact than classroom teaching’. Consequently the placement is regarded as the signature pedagogy in social work education. However, it is also asserted that universities pay little attention to this aspect of teaching and concerns about a ‘significant level of disjunction between academic and practice learning’ are expressed.

The development of a new distance learning MA social work programme in which units are studied alongside part-time placements afforded opportunities for innovation in curriculum delivery, alongside increasing connections with learning on placement. Practice educators were invited to respond to an online mixed methods survey exploring their perceptions of the programme and views as to how greater integration of academic and practice learning can be achieved in social work education generally. Analysis of the results identified the important role which supervision with the practice educator can play in integrating learning on placement with the academic curriculum. The paper concludes that a greater focus on learning from practice may offer opportunities to maximise the learning potential of the placement as social work's signature pedagogy.     

Transitions to Systemic Practice for a Clinical Psychology Trainee

This article provides an individual perspective on encounters with systemic and family therapy ideas during the transition from university training to professional practice as a Clinical Psychology Registrar. Clinical psychology training provides a solid grounding in individually focussed, cognitive and behavioural models of psychotherapy. What may be less developed on entry to practice are the knowledge, procedural skills and reflective competencies needed to understand and respond to challenges in family‐based therapy and in working within complex caregiving systems. Systemic ideas can provide important resources for facilitating these transitions. Trainees may need support not only in gaining knowledge of family therapy models, but also in making a challenging ‘epistemological shift’ (Cullin, 2014) from internalised models of psychopathology to systemic ways of thinking about problems and change. Systemic concepts and support in developing a position of ‘hospitality’ (Larner, 2003) towards competing therapeutic models can also help the trainee be more effective in complex caregiving environments. This article provides examples from my learning as well as reflections on what may help trainees make the transition to professional practice and make use of systemic ideas.     

Initial reflections and learning from the development and delivery of staff consultations in an innovative residential childcare pathway

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the development of staff consultation in the context of an innovative residential childcare pathway within a local authority in the United Kingdom. A preceding attempt to develop group consultations in residential homes has been expanded upon and enhanced as part of implementing a broader therapeutic residential service model. A wide-ranging training programme and consultations have been developed for residential childcare workers to introduce and embed therapeutic ideas. Systemic therapy and attachment theory ideas have been used explicitly through exploring with staff how these approaches can inform practice, and implicitly by providing a framework of consultation to inform and expand individual and team thinking. Promoting reflective practice through group consultations has highlighted complex challenges, stimulating opportunities as well as a need to consider multiple levels of context. Recommendations from this learning are discussed to help inform practice in new and existing residential services.     

Reflective Practice: An Exercise in Exploring Inner Dialogue and Vertical Polyphony

The dialogical notion of vertical polyphony, referring to multiple internal voices, is explored in relation to clinicians’ professional and personal selves. We describe an experiential training exercise developed to enhance clinicians’ awareness and understanding of their inner dialogue, and create space to practice what Schön terms ‘reflecting‐in‐action’ and ‘knowing‐in‐action.’ The exercise involves stages of personal reflection, discussion in groups of two or three, and shared learning by the group. A number of variations of the exercise are described. The invited commentaries following the article provide a sense of participants’ reactions to the exercises. Readers are invited to adapt the exercise to suit their own setting and to enhance reflective practice.     

Construction of Peer Support Groups in Child Protection Social Work: Negotiating Practicalities to Enhance the Professional Self

This paper reports on a research project that was developed between a cohort of child protection social workers in the Republic of Ireland and the authors. The focus of the research was on researching participants’ experiences of developing peer support groups (PSGs) in child protection social work. Eleven participants formed two PSGs; one group had six participants, the other had five. This qualitative research study involved focus groups with each of the peer groups at the beginning, middle and end of the 12-month period. Data from the focus groups were analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Findings from the research indicate that the organic development of a PSG involves negotiating a range of practicalities which, working together, help to promote reflective practice and to advance the development of the professional self. A number of important and interconnected subthemes emerged within the texts of the focus groups. These included: the establishment of PSGs as a work activity; consideration of logistical matters in forming PSGs; identification of the influence of group dynamics in structuring and negotiating PSGs; PSGs as a conduit for integrating personal and professional values and as a context for facilitating and enabling an increased consciousness of self in practice. Drawing on these findings, the authors consider the implications for integrating PSGs within child protection agency services.     

The practice of systemic reflexivity

What does it mean to practise systemic reflexivity? Much has been written on reflective practice but less is known of the practice of systemic reflexivity. This paper is a contribution towards expanding on what is known of the practice of systemic reflexivity. In this endeavour, a contextualising narrative of how ideas of the practice of systemic reflexivity merged within the systemic field is followed by an exploration of reflective practice and systemic reflexivity, using McGilchrist’s approach of interpersonal neuroscience. The purpose is to demonstrate how the two concepts of reflective practice and systemic reflexivity combined could enhance social work practice. However, this is not to deny the current literature that we have on reflection and reflexivity, but there is a need to continue creating space to widen dialogue in this area as a way of keeping the ideas alive and generating alternative ways of working with the two concepts.     

Reflective learning in social work education: Scaffolding the process

This article examines the contribution of reflective learning in social work education to professional self-construction of social workers in Ireland. It suggests a framework for scaffolding this process on a post-graduate programme and gives an account of the issues and dilemmas faced by the authors in implementing this framework. The article focuses on the construction of a 'learning community', which facilitates and scaffolds reflective teaching/learning, in two particular course modules, the Use of Self in Social Work and the Practice Skills Laboratory. The authors document the underlying theoretical constructs utilised and the practical implications for the learning environment.     

Revisiting the Sexual Orientation Matrix for Supervision

Abstract

This article addresses the use of the Sexual Orientation Matrix for Supervision (SOMS) in preparing supervisees to work with GLBTQ families. Originally published as a tool to assist supervisors and educators to help their supervisees work more effectively with gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) couples, the SOMS is founded on two core concepts: (1) degree of heterosexual bias; and (2) degree of acceptance of GLBTQ orientations and behavior. In this revision, we have expanded heterosexual bias to include sexual identities, sexual orientations, and gender identities. Supervisors can employ the Matrix to explore their own and their trainees' levels of comfort, knowledge, and experience. We also provide specific suggestions and tasks.     

The concept of reflection: is it skill based or values?

Reflection, reflectivity, reflective practice, reflective praxis and critical reflection are all dialogical terms used interchangeably to mean different things. It is timely to take time out and pause on this important concept to consider the wider implications of its use. Whatever reflection is, we know there are difficulties in identifying this complex idea writers, practitioners and scholars constantly engage with reflection in new debates about ‘how to do it better’ assuming the ‘it’ is something assessed and understood. More worryingly a student’s ability to reflect is assessed assuming the idea of reflective practice is a measureable phenomenon. Some have identified problems of assessing reflection. There is limited empirical evidence of what is reflection. In the substantial literature on reflection we have failed to ask the question – ‘What is reflection it if doesn’t exist that I might be able to perform it better and others can measure?’ The problem of reflection is more complicated when presenting reflective performance through language, which will also be explored. This article presents a challenge to contemporary ideas of the way in which reflection is conceptualised and understood. The article concludes with insights and a way forward for a new argument on reflection and how it might be linked to virtue ethics rather than it being viewed as a skill that can be taught.     

‘What shall I pack in my suitcase?’: the role of work-integrated learning in sustaining social work students’ professional identity

Interest in the reflective practitioner as a model of a ‘good professional’ has increased in several professional fields and is also valued within social work education as a key aspiration to address the uncertainties and challenges encountered in contemporary working environments. Reflecting on their own professional identity, as well as theories, values, and devices used in professional practice, can help practitioners deal with complex work demands and help students be better equipped to transition from university to work. Work-integrated learning (WIL) provides students with an opportunity to integrate academic learning with ‘real-world’ experiences to develop both valuable self-monitoring and professional self-constructive ability. This paper presents a case study in social work higher education in which WIL class-based teaching was combined with the use of reflective journals to explore the role of WIL in developing reflective practices for professional identity formation. 21 reflective journals by social work students are analysed. The findings suggest that teaching practices based on WIL enable professional identity formation by developing reflective practices, and that different learning conditions sustain specific dimensions of professional identity, i.e. professional expertise, membership to a professional community and sense of professional self.     

The reflective diary: an experiential tool for enhancing social work students’ research learning

There has been substantial discussion internationally about the need for social work students to integrate research into practice. Little has been written, however, about teaching methods that address the cognitive and emotional challenges students experience in their efforts to develop research competencies. Many students believe that research does not apply to the ‘real’ world of practice and are anxious and fearful when they begin a research course. Using a retrospective review of students’ assignments, this article describes the use of reflective diaries in teaching MSW students from a university in the USA skills for practice-based social work research. Reflective diaries provide a safe forum for students to actively engage with the challenges they experience while taking a research course and take ownership of their learning needs. The diary entries provide instructors with windows into their students’ learning processes that enable them to create scaffolding opportunities that support students in developing confidence in their research skills. This article describes the pedagogical philosophy behind reflective diaries, details of the diaries assignment, and benefits of this learning tool for students and instructors. The authors offer recommendations for incorporating reflective diaries into social work research courses and implications for evidence-based practice.