Developing a Working Model of Cross-Cultural Supervision: A Competence- and Alliance-Based Framework

Despite numerous suggestions to integrate culture, diversity and social justice issues in clinical supervision, empirical studies on cross-cultural supervision indicate limited uptake of such recommendations. We suggest that a comprehensive model of cross-cultural supervision could benefit the field by guiding supervisors in this task. A working model is proposed based on a foundation of the supervisory alliance and a focus on social work practice competence, integrating strategies to promote self- and relational-reflexivity within the supervisory relationship. The model is comprised of four components: component 1: goal setting to contract on cross-cultural integration in supervision; component 2: active listening for cross-cultural markers; component 3: bonding through the supervisor’s self-reflexivity to foster the supervisee’s self-reflexivity; and component 4: working through tasks for cultural integration in supervision by modelling the supervisor’s relational reflexivity in case formulation and treatment to foster the supervisee’s relational-reflexivity.     

In the Shadow of Death: Relational Paradigms in Clinical Supervision

The process of clinical supervision is a complex undertaking that is influenced by multiple factors, including the personalities and characteristics of the supervisory dyad, developmental considerations, social attitudes, ecological factors and the parallel process. The supervisory interchange becomes even more difficult and complex when it occurs in the context of HIV and AIDS related practice, which introduces the reality of untimely death accompanied by grief and loss. In this paper, I will review the literature in regards to developmental aspects of the supervisory relationship, transference and countertransference paradigms and the parallel process. These particular issues will be framed within a relational perspective and the ways it shapes the supervisory process. The focus of this paper will be clinical work with clients diagnosed with HIV and AIDS and the impact of death and dying on the supervisory paradigm. The literature review will be elaborated on through a clinical vignette followed by an extended discussion.     

The Process of Facilitating Case Formulations in Relational Clinical Supervision

This paper explores the supervisory process in relation to the ongoing challenge of developing (and re-developing) a case formulation. We adopt a relational approach to clinical practice and correspondingly to the supervisory domain. We argue that a relational approach to clinical practice firmly fits with social work values, including authenticity, mutuality and collaboration. We address typical challenges inherent in attaining and maintaining a relational formulation in the supervisory relationship.     

Beyond Parallel Process: Relational Perspectives on Field Instruction

This article explores the implications of contemporary relational perspectives for transforming our understanding and use of the concept of parallel process in supervisory relationships in social work field instruction. We review the history of the concept of parallel process, summarize current relational views in psychodynamic supervision, and critique the social work literature in light of the paradigmatic shift to a relational, constructivist viewpoint. We present two vignettes illustrating how relational sensibilities enrich our understanding and increase the effectiveness of the field instruction relationship. We relocate parallel process, which up to now has been a primary, organizing framework in psychodynamic supervision, in a larger relational matrix, where it is one element in a complex, interactive process and serves as a marker for further exploration in reflective social work practice.     

Introduction to the Special Issues on the Supervision of Staff and Field Education of Students

Two Special Issues of the Clinical Social Work Journal have been dedicated to building on the social work discipline’s tradition and commitment to the supervision of staff and field education of students. These issues bring together contemporary theorizing, clinical supervisory and field education practice experience and wisdom, and research studies to contribute to the knowledge base for practicing supervisors and field educators. As the first of the Special Issues, this issue has been dedicated to the supervision of staff. In this Introduction, we share the salient aspects of the articles published, as they relate to contemporary social work supervision, relational considerations within the supervisory dyad, models of supervision for fields of specialization, as well as measurement and evaluation. Implications are shared, with highlights and connections for practicing supervisors made throughout.     

Trust,Power and Safety in the Social Work Supervisory Relationship: Results from Australian Research

Social work, as a discipline, places considerable importance on the provision of supervision, promoting it as a key process supporting critical reflection and practice improvement. A supervision relationship built on trust has the potential to provide a safe context within which practice issues can be explored. This article reports on an Australian study of social work supervision and the ways in which a trusting supervision relationship supports safe practice and critical reflection. A context of trust within the supervisory relationship is found to promote safe practice, providing the basis for what supervisees felt was satisfying supervision. Within a trusted and supportive supervisory relationship participants wanted and valued challenge which was seen to promote professional growth and positive client outcomes. Whether this occurs, however, depended on how power was exercised and how safe they felt in the supervisory relationship. The research argues the need for social work to reclaim supervision through a revitalised commitment to advancing supervision practice, research, and research-based policies.     

Supervision of students: A map and a model for the decade to come

This paper proposes a map and a model for the supervision of social work students. The authors have placed renewed emphasis on the somewhat neglected supervisory aspect and include an integration of adult learning theory within the supervision process. This model is located within a 'map' of the placement process and within a broader understanding of the learning milieu of the fieldwork placement. The authors suggest that this model will better meet the needs of practice in the new decade.     

Social Work Supervision and its Role in Enabling a Community Visitor Program that Promotes and Protects the Rights of Children

Abstract

This article explores the characteristics of traditional social work supervision, comparing it with supervision in the counselling/clinical field and in industry. The contention is that while social work supervision has learned from advances in other supervisory fields, the traditional social work supervision functions of administration, education, support, and mediation lead to a more holistic practice within child protection work than is possible using other narrower frameworks. A discussion of supervision within a community visitor program that promotes and protects the rights and interests of children and young people who are in state care is used to support this contention.     

Abstracts

This paper describes a design for a course which aims to develop advanced practice skills in supervision and consultation for qualified social workers. The course model is based on an understanding of reflective learning developed chiefly by Donald Schon and recently discussed in this journal by Nick Gould. Some of the processes, risks and dilemmas for course members, course tutors and seconding agencies that are inherent in the course are explored through examples of reflection-in-action drawn from recent courses. Implications for the use of this approach with social workers' managers operating within a hierarchical organisational structure are explored.

The experiential element of the course, based on course members' work as consultant and consultee with another course member, will be developed more fully in a subsequent paper.

The potential usefulness of the course is discussed in relation to developing advanced practice in professional supervision, accrediting experienced practice teachers and, in an adapted form, enabling social work practitioners to develop a range of advanced practice skills.     

Strengthening Supervision in Systems of Care: Exemplary Practices in Empirically Supported Treatments

The last few decades have witnessed major growth in the evidence base on effective client interventions used by social workers and other health and social service professionals. As the pressure for service agencies to offer empirically supported treatments has been increasing, financial and time constraints have driven a decline in the frequency and amount of supervision provided within many of these organizations. While the reduction in staff supervision presents a challenge for effective implementation of all treatments, there are comprehensive empirically supported treatment models for clients that serve as exemplars of supervisory practice through their explicit requirements, processes and tools for supervision and supervisor development. After a review of the current status of supervision nationally, an implementation science-based approach is described, which builds organizational support for supervision and promotes optimal supervisory practice through training and consultation of supervisors and supervisees. The elements of this comprehensive approach, developed by the Yale Program on Supervision, are detailed. Supervisory policies, practices, and tools created by the developers of empirically supported treatments and similarly grounded in the principles of implementation science are offered as further examples of strategies for ensuring effective supervision.     

The Use of Self from a Relational Perspective

This article explores the implications of a contemporary relational perspective on the use of self in social work practice. The author is responding to an article by Andrea Reupert, who interviewed social workers and reported they tended to see their concept of self as individualistic, autonomous, and only partially defined by others, even though social work practice focuses on person-in-environment. In this article, the author expands the concept of self and argues that a contemporary view of the therapist’s self is one that is dialogic, contextualized, decentered, and multiple. Additionally, the author suggests that this relational perspective has implications for teaching and supervision. Several clinical vignettes are provided to illustrate the concepts under discussion.     

Social Work Supervision of Staff: A Primer and Scoping Review (2013–2017)

Supervision of staff has a rich history within the social work profession, and is widely valued internationally for the support, knowledge, and skill it is perceived to provide. Moreover, quality supervision is championed for ensuring good client care. However, supervisors practicing within the social work profession have not typically had access to best practice information, nor accessed the parallel research related to the supervision of staff. A supervision primer provides an orientation to the supervision literature, including definitions and disciplinary perspectives. This sets the stage for a scoping review of social work supervision articles for the purpose of supporting supervisors in keeping current, locating, understanding, and applying literature to their practice. Seventy-nine conceptual and empirical articles first-authored by social workers were published in 36 journals between 2013 and 2017. The volume, location, context and nature of these articles are presented, pointing to an increased social work presence in the literature. Implications for supervisory practice, scholarship, and research are discussed.     

Lifting the Lid: Perspectives on and Activity within Student Supervision

Practice teaching is central to social work education. Significant changes have occurred in the past 10 years affecting social work education in Scotland. This article reports on the findings of a small-scale study involving the audio recording of supervision sessions and the interviewing of students and practice teachers engaged in a 65-day assessed placement. The research reveals a high level of congruence between students and practice teachers in perspectives on the supervisory relationship, confirms the findings of other studies concerning effective supervision and provides some vivid evidence of practice teacher and student activity within supervision perceived to be conducive to student learning. A specific finding was the association between the use of ‘exploring’ by practice teachers and students engaging in practice analysis. It is concluded that the changes affecting social work education over the past 10 years, on the evidence of this small sample, overall have had a positive impact on the supervisory relationship within practice learning. One area suggested for further study is the potential link between ‘expressing opinion’ by practice teachers and students within supervision and the development of evidence-based practice.     

Supervising Social Workers in Involuntary Contexts: Some Considerations

ABSTRACT

This article outlines areas for reflection for those providing supervision to social workers working in involuntary and semivoluntary contexts. This includes clinical implications, impacts on social work identity, and potential impacts on the supervisory relationship itself. It suggests that there are some areas that could be considered for discussion and exploration that may be different in focus to other types of supervisory practice, encouraging supervisors to consider their own approach in response to the issues raised.

IMPLICATIONS

• Working in involuntary contexts raises specific challenges in relation to power and authority in practice, as well as a range of ethical dilemmas.

• Supervisors might wish to consider the issues raised with a view to exploring with their supervisees how working with involuntary clients changes their framework or approach.

     

Supervising Mental Health Clinicians in The Context of Complex Organisational Dynamics

This article discusses the complex dynamics and challenges of providing supervision to mental health clinicians working within an organisational context when the supervisor is not part of the organisation and has no formal managerial or accountability responsibility. It considers two models of supervision and their application to three supervisory relationships in an organisational context. It concludes that for supervision to be effective there needs to be a consideration of the social defences in operation within the organisation and how they are met by the anxieties and defences of the supervisor and supervisee. This requires a mixed approach by the supervisor of the technical with the inter-subjective as a reliance on one model of supervision risks limiting the effectiveness of the intervention. The role of the supervisor can enable the supervisee to establish a clinical framework and the necessary environment essentials for their practice.     

Mitchell's Relational Conflict Model: An Analysis of Its Usefulness in Clinical Social Work

This article examines the relational conflict model developed by Stephen A. Mitchell. The main concepts of Mitchell's relational conflict model are discussed, particularly early patterns of connection to parental figures and the interactive treatment approach to understanding and changing those relational patterns. The model is contrasted with classical drive and developmental arrest theories in the psychodynamic treatment of psychopathology. We explain how Mitchell's model, in keeping with a social work perspective, takes into consideration the social, cultural, and environmental factors as well as the intrapsychic. We discuss how patterns of relating are reworked throughout the life course, and we explore the potential for individual agency in constructing new patterns of relating. We also highlight the social constructivist aspects of Mitchell's approach which are congruent with current contemporary trends in social work theory. A case vignette is presented to illustrate the viability of this model for clinical social work practice.     

The Contribution of Role Characteristics and Supervisory Functions to Supervision Effectiveness

This study examined the factors that contribute to the perceived effectiveness of supervision for child welfare workers. Specifically, we examined role characteristics such as: exposure to child abuse cases, years of work experience, and role stress, as well as the supervisory functions of administration, education, and emotional support to effectiveness of supervision. The findings revealed that the supervisory function of administration, as well as social workers’ high exposure to child abuse cases and role stress, correlated negatively with perceived supervision effectiveness. In contrast, the use of the supervisory functions of education and support correlated positively with perceived supervision effectiveness. The findings suggest that high exposure to child abuse cases and role stress can impair social workers’ ability to benefit from effective supervision. In addition, the study highlights the importance of the supervisory functions of support and education and their positive impact on this population of social workers in Israel.     

USE OF SELF: A PRIMER REVISITED

Use of self is a concept that is universally accepted yet equally ambiguous. Melding the professional self of what one knows (training, knowledge, techniques) with the personal self of who one is (personality traits, belief systems, and life experience) is a hallmark of skilled practice. This paper synthesizes seminal works regarding the concept of use of self and suggests a five-category typology for defining and describing use of self in social work practice. Drawing from the literature and practice wisdom gleaned from the author’s clinical, teaching, and supervisory observations, the article proposes that use of self can be operationally defined as: use of personality; use of belief system; use of relational dynamics; use of anxiety; and use of self-disclosure.     

Mechanisms for Building Working Alliances in Clinical Supervision

While social workers and researchers acknowledge the importance of a positive working alliance between service providers and clients, less is known about mechanisms for developing working alliances between supervisors and supervisees. The Alliance Building: Learning to Engage (ABLE) model was developed to measure and enhance the supervisory relationship. The ABLE model consists of a tool for continuous measurement of the supervisory working alliance as well as several research supported resources. This two part study assessed the reliability and validity of the ABLE supervision tool (ABLE-S), and then a randomized control trial pilot study was conducted to determine if the use of ABLE in supervision improves the professional quality of life and occupational self-efficacy for supervisees. Analyses revealed the ABLE-S tool is a reliable and valid form for measuring supervisory working alliance, but the use of ABLE in supervision did not have a significant effect on supervisee outcomes compared to the control group. The findings suggest additional training on proper implementation of ABLE and expanded measurements to capture several confounds inherent in the supervisory context are needed in future studies. Practical implications of using ABLE include effective strategies for promoting positive supervisee development and reducing negative effects of stressful work environments that often exist in the social service field.