The Development of a Clinical Approach to Supervision

1
The Development of a Clinical Approach to
Supervision

• Ingrid Hauth
• Hamilton CAS
• Sheila Sammon
• McMaster University School of Social Work

2
The Course

• Emerged from a university / community advisory
  group
• Motivated by a commitment to social justice and
  community support
• Resulted from consultations with workers,
  supervisors and directors of service

3
Course Objectives

• develop a strengths based perspective in
  supervision
• develop supervisory techniques that encourage
  worker self confidence, analytical skills and
  clinical practice
• create a supervisory relationship that
  facilitates critical thinking, reflection and
  problem solving
• address diversity and social justice in child
  welfare

4
Critical Thinking
5
Lessons Learned

• The value of reflection
• The value of talking to and planning with other
  supervisors
• Appreciation for a course not training
• Value of small group discussion
• Value of role play and exercises

6
More Lessons Learned

• Supervisors/managers want to read yet have so
  little time to do so
• The challenge of taking the time to think
  critically
• It is difficult to implement a change in
  supervision given the day to day pressures
• It is difficult to implement a change in
  supervision when caseloads and volume paper work
  remain high
• The importance of support and change efforts on
  the part of senior management/directors

7
Research Results

• Qualitative Study
• Focus Groups of Course Participants
• Four Childrens Aid Societies

8
POSSIBILITIES

• Influencing organizational change
• we have formulated a clinical supervision ...
  committee were using the same, applying the
  same techniques and things that we learned to all
  staff, non social work staff too.

9
POSSIBILITIES

• Enhanced supervisory practices
• Encouraging workers to think critically
• Diversity discussions
• Emotional processing
• I dont want to be micro managing people any
  more

10
POSSIBILITIES

• Group supervision
• weve tried to make the meetings different and
  tried to, as you were saying, get through the
  administrative stuff more quickly and then bring
  somebody in or present something and get into a
  discussion.

11
Workers Feedback

• they said
• Ive never experienced this before, its
  really strange... that Im out there and I have
  to think about the decision and that kind of
  thing.
• So I was encouraged by that.

12
Parallel Process

• that lovely little phrase, nothing about us
  without us is very empowering, and its very
  empowering for a client but its very empowering
  for me.
• It would have been really cool if (the
  administration) had taken the time in this change
  just to say were discussing thiswhat do you
  think?
• Right?

13
NEXT STEPS

• Course for senior management
• Courses for the next groups of supervisors
• Follow up meetings for the original groups