Glossary

Authoritarian supervision – controlling, inflexible and focused on outputs. Uses a ‘do what I say’ approach.

Authoritative supervision – visionary, respectful and motivating. Uses a ‘come with me’ approach.

Critical reflection – an ongoing commitment for people to challenge themselves by examining beliefs, biases, values and thinking. This commitment enables people to be open to learning from all perspectives. It also allows them to release unexamined assumptions and acknowledge their own power and privilege.

Communities of practice (CoPs) – groups of professionals who ‘share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly’.^[1] Each CoP is based on a theme. CoPs facilitate social learning and professional development. They also provide a forum for members to innovate and solve problems in a way that can provide a collective and strategic voice.^[2] CoPs can be open or closed groups of professionals who meet or communicate to discuss and workshop specific topics.

Compassion satisfaction – level of satisfaction people working in ‘helping’ professions find in their job and the degree they feel successful in their job,^[3] which can improve practice and reduce burnout.

Counter transference – refers to the feelings and behaviours evoked in the supervisor by the supervisee’s transference. The supervisor then reacts accordingly in line with their unconscious scripts and unresolved issues.

Co-vision – where the supervisee reaches a level of knowledge and competency that makes them more like equals with the supervisor. The supervisor can acknowledge this and be curious about what this means in terms of the power balance and each other’s expectations.^[4]

Critical but mindful friend – the words ‘but mindful’ have been added to indicate this is about supporting supervisees to critique their own work, with the supervisor being the supervisee’s ally. Someone who can be counted on to have the supervisee’s back rather than someone who forms a friendship.^[5]

Cultural load – refers to multiple elements of stress, pressure and obligation that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners can experience in their professional roles that lie outside the normal boundaries and expectations of other health professionals. This can include the often-unrecognised expectation to provide indigenous knowledge, education, and support to other practitioners; cultural obligations to client family members within community that involve support outside normal hours; experiencing racism or unintended cultural ignorance or assumptions in the workplace that needs to be addressed and which take an emotional toll; and dealing with intergenerational trauma such as lateral violence within community.

Feedforward – focusing on future behaviour, which can be more powerful and better received than feedback.

Intergenerational trauma – when unresolved individual or collective trauma is transferred to the next generation.

Lateral violence – where, due to oppression, members of marginalised groups may strike out at each other. The oppressed become the oppressors of themselves and each other.

Lived experience in the workforce – refers to individuals who work in the sector as practitioners, leaders, advisors, researchers, administrators, clinicians and in many other roles, who have experienced family violence or sexual assault, have experience of using the system or have supported someone close to them directly impacted by family violence or sexual assault.

Lived experiences can be intersectional and people will bring different insights gained through experiences of overlapping systems of discrimination and oppressions. Lived experiences of patriarchal violence are compounded by colonisation, racism and white supremacy, ableism, ageism, homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia, among others.^[6]

Neglectful supervision – where the supervisor is often unavailable and uncaring, resulting in the supervisee becoming anxious and unclear on their role. This type of supervision is neither demanding nor responsive to the supervisees needs.

Parallel process – recognises that there is a parallel between the traumatic symptoms we see in clients and those we see in organisations. This can result in organisations and workforces becoming insular, distrusting, rigid, risk averse and hierarchical. A shift in behaviours and thinking which align to values can shift this culture.^[7]

Permissive supervision – is unfocused, providing the supervisee too much autonomy. The supervisor sometimes addresses supervisee’s emotional needs at the expense of focusing on case practice. This can result in the supervisee operating in isolation, or conversely, becoming overly dependent upon the supervisor. Issues are often unaddressed, and cases lack direction.

Principal explorer – where the supervisee leads the exploration, and the supervisor is the skilled companion during reflective supervision. The supervisor helps the supervisee to find their own wisdom rather than giving advice or problem-solving.^[8]

Privilege - an advantage, right or benefit that is given to some people and not others. This benefit is often in the form of power society gives certain people based on characteristics like gender, race, ability, class, education and sexuality.

Transference – refers to the feelings from past events or relationships that are projected onto the current relationships. For example, the power dynamic in supervision may bring up the supervisee’s unresolved issues related to family of origin. The person then responds as though they are in that previous relationship. Managers, of course, also bring their own transference issues and need to be aware of the feelings and relationship dynamics from the past that may surface in their work relationships.

Transgenerational trauma – when trauma is transferred across several generations.

Trauma aware – understanding the impacts and responses to trauma which includes symptoms and behaviours.

Trauma responsive – practitioners apply knowledge of trauma and resilience in their practice and apply the trauma-informed principles.

Trauma sensitive – the organisation values a trauma-informed lens and promotes a safe and respectful environment that enables staff to build caring relationships, self-regulate their emotions and behaviours and do their best work.

Vicarious resilience – relates to practitioners and supervisors feeling a sense of purpose by noticing the effects of their practice on clients’ ability to cope with adversity.

Vicarious trauma – refers to the experience of trauma that stems from indirectly living the experiences, thoughts, and emotions of those undergoing or recounting traumatic events.

Window of tolerance – describes the best state of ‘arousal’ in which people can function. When people are regulated in between the arousal states of hyper- (high arousal state) and hypo-dissociative- (or low arousal state) arousal they can effectively manage and cope with their emotions and think more clearly.