Dialogical Research in Supervision: Practical Guidelines from Experienced Supervisors in Family Therapy,Child Protection,and Specialty Mental Health Services

This two‐year qualitative participatory research project examines practical guidelines for supervision. Sixteen experienced supervisors across professional settings of family therapy, child protection, and specialty mental health services in the geographical regions of Northern Norway and Northern Sweden outline four main practical guidelines in supervision based on their supervisory practices: (1) elaborating an agreed‐upon contract; (2) exploring potential formats; (3) exploring contents; (4) acknowledging responsibility for process and dilemmas. Participants summarised how they generated mutual growth in supervisory relationships, while being respectful of the first‐person perspective of supervisees. The study challenges pre‐dominating guidelines about deficit‐ or developmental stage‐oriented supervision. It illustrates reflecting processes and a polyphonic orientation in supervision by welcoming diversity, wondering, and tolerance for the not‐yet‐decided among involved persons in a mutual exploration and calibration of relevant knowledge. It outlines a dialogical research for sharing, exploring, and questioning knowledge as beneficial for whom, told by whom, and evaluated by whom.     

Querying meanings of adolescent peer resistance: a school choice decision revisited

For more than three decades, adolescent research within psychology has addressed developmental questions regarding resistance to peer influences from a psychosocial perspective, emphasizing autonomy development. Inferences about development have been drawn from age-related differences on peer resistance/conformity questionnaires. In this paper, we illustrate an alternative sociocultural/dialogical person-in-context approach to the study of peer resistances and development. This approach directs attention to the meanings of resistant acts as arising from adolescents' transactions with immediate and larger sociocultural contexts, and to the evaluation of development as qualitative system transformation. Our study concerns voiced resistance by eighth-grade girls to peer labeling of their sexual orientation because of the girls' choice (3 years earlier) to attend an all-girl college-preparatory middle school. Resistances expressed in interviews are evaluated within the context of current and prior I-other positionings surrounding the school choice, and we highlight the importance of considering (1) multiple rather than singular peer relations in adolescents' lives associated with connecting as well as resisting positionings; (2) meanings of ‘what’ is being resisted; (3) distinctions in how resistances are expressed; (4) emergent abstractions supporting the resistances; and (5) developmental change as a systems phenomenon.     

Theory and Practice of Systemic‐Dialogical Therapy

Systemic‐dialogical therapy originates from an evolution of Milan systemic therapy, through a reflection on Bakhtinian dialogue and on power and knowledge dynamics in therapeutic sessions. The model considers both emergent patterns in human interaction and the dialogical nature of human exchanges in which emotions play a relevant part. Such theoretical considerations prompted the creation of specific practices, such as emotional micro‐hypothesising, considering heteroglossia in the session, dialogue with the context, finding one's place in the relational network, and fostering relational responsibility in both therapist and clients. The practice of systemic‐dialogical therapy is illustrated by a clinical case study.     

‘He is Quirky; He is the World's Greatest Psychologist’: On the Community of Those Who Have Nothing in Common

In this article, we challenge the concept of the therapeutic relationship as an operationalisable entity. In contrast to this idea, we introduce Alphonso Lingis’ concept of community, and his distinction between the rational community and the community of those who have nothing in common. This is done through speculative analysis of a transcribed sequence from a research interview with a boy who speaks about his experiences of receiving mental health care. This boy and his family were helped through a network‐oriented, dialogical approach. In the sequence highlighted here, the boy speaks of the significance of a particular mental health practitioner. The boy expresses appreciation for the help he has received, yet it is difficult to translate the boy's utterances into meaningful professional jargon. Although the paper makes use of an actual sequence from a research interview, the argument is not empirical in nature. The purpose of the paper is to elaborate on theory, and to examine some possible consequences for future practice.     

Central Bank Transparency as a Dialogical Accomplishment

This paper is a case study of the Czech central bank's communication with the public following the bank's decision to devalue the Czech currency. The aim is to contribute to knowledge of how central banks discharge their obligations to be transparent in communicating controversial decisions and actions. It is argued that transparency cannot be considered an individual act of the bank, but a joint dialogical accomplishment, which includes, among others, media and the public. The analysis of the interactions shows that the concepts of “dialogical networks” and “practical historians” are useful tools for elucidating how controversies in media develop over time.     

The Take Over of Parent-Child Dynamics in a Supervisory Relationship: Identifying the Role Transformation

The literature on supervision discusses processes occurring in the supervisor-supervisee relationship that are similar to, and have parallels in, a parent-child relationship. This slipping from the one type of relationship into the other can interfere with the process of supervision. This shift to the supervisee feeling like a child and the supervisor like a parent is liable to be the natural outcome of transference and counter-transference. The aim of this paper is to examine the pseudo-parental role of the supervisor, in order to make supervisors more aware of, and alert to, the possibility that their supervision of young workers may slip into a parent-child mode, to identify critical points where parental feelings may intrude on supervision, and to suggest a useful support model that can help prevent this intrusion.     

Becoming Dialogical: Psychotherapy or a Way of Life?

After birth the first thing we learn is becoming a participant in dialogue. We are born in relations and those relations become our structure. Intersubjectivity is the basis of human experience and dialogue the way we live it. In this paper the dilemma of looking at dialogue as either a way of life or a therapeutic method is described. The background is the open dialogue psychiatric system that was initiated in Finnish Western Lapland. The author was part of the team re‐organizing psychiatry and afterwards became involved in many different types of projects in dialogical practices. Lately the focus has shifted from looking at speech to seeing the entire embodied human being in the present moment, especially in multifarious settings. Referring to studies on good outcomes in acute psychosis, the contribution of dialogical practice as a psychological resource will be clarified.     

The Interacting-Reflecting Training Exercise: Addressing the Therapist’s Inner Conversation in Family Therapy Training

In recent years several authors have made a beginning in describing therapeutic conversations from a dialogical perspective. Training and supervision, however, have not yet been addressed from a dialogical perspective. In this article, an experiential training exercise is described that is focused on the basic dialogical skills of the trainee: respectful inquiry and constructive reflecting. Rather than teaching and instructing, this training exercise is aimed at staging a dialogue. The trainees are invited to take part in this dialogue, as they are encouraged to experiment with new positions and new ways of encountering others, and as their different voices tell of their experiences, of the things they have learned, and of the new perspectives that have opened up for them. Leaning on ideas about the therapist’s inner conversation (Rober, 1999, 2005b) and stressing the importance of polyphony, dialogism, and tolerance for uncertainty, the training exercise described in this article is consistent with a dialogical and postmodernist frame, as described by Seikkula and Olson (2003) .     

Theory,practice and use of self in the open dialogues approach to family therapy: A simple complexity or a complex simplicity?

In the family therapy literature there is increasing interest in the dialogical approach, particularly as it becomes well‐grounded in psychotherapy research. One embodiment is ‘open dialogues’, which has developed over a 30‐year period in Western Lapland, Finland. This paper outlines my experience of visiting Keropudas Hospital in Tornio, Finland, the birthplace of open dialogues. It explores the seven theoretical principles of open dialogues, associated elements of clinical practice, and the therapist use of self. The author utilises these aspects to reflect on dialogical moments through words and images based on three conceptual themes, which illustrate the relevance of open dialogues for family therapy practitioners and their contexts.     

Using live supervision to teach counselling skills to social work students

This article reports on a research project which explored how anxiety can be managed when social work students receive live supervision as they are learning counselling skills. Eight social work students volunteered to participate in an eight session project in which they role played counselling sessions and received live supervision of their work. Their subjective experience of live supervision was elicited via survey reported surveys over the course of the project. They also submitted pre-and post-project recordings of their counselling role plays which were evaluated for changes in skill level. The participants’ survey results showed that, over the course of the project, each participant became less anxious about live supervision and came to find it a valuable learning experience. Their recorded role plays all showed improvements in skill level across a range of domains. The authors contend the establishment and maintenance of positive and trusting relationships between participants and between participants and the supervisor was crucial to the success of this project, as was attention to power dynamics and differences in learning styles. These results suggest that, under the right conditions, live supervision can be a valuable addition to counselling skills teaching strategies with social work students.     

#WE SPEAK: exploring the experience of refugee youth through participatory research and poetry

Despair and a sense of hopelessness have been uninvited fellow travellers for many refugees. Despite the myriad challenges facing refugee populations there are numerous barriers to accessing services in a South African context. This is especially true for refugee youth who often fall through the gap of support given to adults or children. This paper explores the benefits of following a narrative, reflexive approach to participatory action research with refugee youth living in Durban, South Africa. We conducted a series of workshops with a focus on creating safe dialogical spaces, identity and values, agency, social connection and performativity using a Critical Reflexive Framework. What emerged early in the research was a sense of despair due to challenges like poverty and xenophobia, making daily life stressful and unsafe. This was coupled with feelings of hopelessness in a future lacking in possibilities. When these feelings are not dealt with it can result in psychological distress and involvement in a range of antisocial behaviours. However, by following a strength-based methodology in creative interventions to re-member abilities, opportunities can be created for rendering hope and agency. The experience is explored through the voices of participants using narrative dialogical analysis and poetic inquiry.     

‘What Was I Thinking?!’ Rhetorical Questions as a Technique to Identify and Explore Impasses in Therapy

Rhetorical questions emerging spontaneously in consultations can be used as a tool for developing self‐reflexivity and exploring the therapeutic alliance in the process of therapy with couples and families. This paper presents a technique based on the enunciation of rhetorical questions, which can point to an impasse in the process of therapy and contain a key to its resolution. The technique focuses on the distinctive feature of rhetorical questions as convening a paradoxical injunction: a question not intended as a question, while uttered as such. The technique in four steps is illustrated by examples from therapy, supervision, consultation, and self‐supervision. Its focus is the interlink between the therapeutic relationship and the process of therapy and it is informed by a second‐order cybernetics approach, dialogical practice, and the systemic literature on emotion. The technique can help develop curiosity in working with families, lead to unforeseen developments, and touch on prejudices not made explicit in previous therapeutic encounters. Whether we are acting as supervisors, therapists, or clients, the creation of a ‘secure enough’ context for rhetorical questions becomes critical to allow freeform exploration.     

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.     

Dialogue and creativity: The generative dialogical perspective in therapy

The generative perspective in therapy understands relations and dialogue as a generative social space where participants can promote innovative resources and possibilities for themselves, and their relations and circumstances, along with new social ecologies. It focuses on the creative dimensions of human relationality. This epistemological and clinical perspective has a heuristic value that allows us to discern and work with micro dialogues—micro processes of creative, generative dialogues—in the ongoing dialogue, mindful of the opportunities for creativity and innovation they provide. The generative perspective promotes creative processes and transformations to help clients build possible and viable futures when faced with problems, conflicts and challenges. It involves the dialogical and relational co-creation of resources and possibilities, and actions for implementation. The perspective is illustrated with a therapy process involving a 3-year follow-up. The paper includes a section where differences and similarities between dialogical perspectives are presented.     

No time to think: protecting the reflective space in children's services

Over the past few years, first line managers in child care have faced mounting pressure on their time from both the national performance management agenda and the professional demands associated with the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families and Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter‐Agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children. This paper briefly discusses the policy context surrounding this period of unprecedented change and focuses on the potential erosion of the reflective space in supervision as first line managers struggle to cope with the ever‐increasing expectations. An argument is made for the creative use of multi‐agency action learning/ research projects within the workplace to supplement individual supervision and promote reflective multi‐agency child care practice; some examples of successful projects are given. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Crisis management during "live" supervision: clinical and instructional matters

In this article, we illustrate two examples of "live" supervision with marriage and family therapy trainees whose clients presented in the therapy room in immediate crisis. The case examples, one a client with suicidal thoughts and the other a parent who had struck her child, demonstrate how the university-based therapy team managed the recursive clinical and supervision processes that unfolded during the sessions. We present the case examples from the perspective of both supervisees and supervisor, discussing how our different experiences of the supervision unfolded in real time. Case discussion and reflections later in the article illustrate the need for an open, transparent, dialogical process throughout supervision. A case is made for supervisory participants to create alternative formats in which multiple supervisory voices can be heard.     

Core Competencies in Social Constructionist Supervision?

Family therapy is moving increasingly toward evidence‐based practice and competency‐based training. This article explores what might seem to be an unlikely link between social constructionist supervision, which is based on dialogic and fluid processes of meaning‐making, and the increasing reliance on discrete core competencies in the education and training of family therapists. We propose an alternate approach to competencies for supervision with therapists in training that, among other things, invites accountability and provides evaluative props. The approach we propose is based on a set of orientations that we hope reflect the dialogic and contextual nature of social constructionist practice and supervision. These orientations consist of reflexivity and attention to power, fostering polyphony and generativity, collaborative stance, and focus on client resourcefulness. Ideas and questions for supervisors and therapists in training to address the orientations are articulated.