Support and development of supervisors

Critical role of supervisors

Supervisors are critical to cultural change, implementing policy reform and sustaining practitioners. They are at the forefront of supporting practitioners developing their skills and performing in their roles. Providing effective supervision requires considerable energy and emotional intelligence. It requires a relaxed, mindful stance of the supervisor to properly be present and provide containment for emotions.

The role is challenging and a significant shift from the practitioner role. Not only do supervisors need to be skilled and knowledgeable about case theory and practice, but they need to know how to develop and hold practitioners in mind and care for them. They are cultural leaders in terms of regularly reflecting on cultural safety, adopting an intersectional feminist lens and trauma- and violence-informed practices.

They are ‘sandwiched’, and often the conduit, between practitioners and upper management and vice versa. They may be higher in the organisational hierarchy than their supervisees, but they do not necessarily have access to more resources or real power to enact change.^[1]

Furthermore, tension can arise when supervisors have line management and clinical supervision responsibilities. Line management responsibilities have the potential to reinforce the power and organisational hierarchy and place pressure on the supervisory relationship.

Reference

[1] R Egan, J Maidment and M Connolly, ‘Who is watching whom? Surveillance in Australian Social Work supervision’, British Journal of Social Work, 2015, 46(6), doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcv098.