What is Professional Supervision?
What is Professional Supervision?
The purpose of professional supervision is to support and improve practice, and to enhance practitioner well-being. Supervision is facilitated by providing a safe space in which a practitioner can explore and reflect on workplace issues, and the impact these have on them both professionally and personally. Supervision usually occurs on a regular basis in a private, confidential place with an experienced practitioner who has had further training in supervision.
Supervision provides an opportunity to process and make sense of both positive and challenging experiences from the work context. By considering and exploring different perspectives on issues, new insights can be gained that enhance and improve professional practice.
Benefits of professional supervision in healthcare
Professional supervision can benefit all practitioners, regardless of their level of training and experience. In these times of health care complexity and uncertainty, it is even more important for practitioners to make the time and space to explore their strengths and areas to work on.
One of the key elements to successful supervision is the development of an effective collaborative working relationship with an emphasis on trust, openness and confidentiality. It is helpful to prepare for supervision by bringing along particular cases or problems, which may involve patients/clients, colleagues, teams, organisational issues or personal difficulties that are impacting upon work.
What to bring to the supervision process?
Common professional supervision topics include:
- Reviewing personal and career goals
- Time and workload management
- Self-care
- Specific problematic patient/client interactions
- Intervention issues
- Ethical and legal issues
- Boundaries
- Communication and cultural issues
- Challenges working with colleagues
- Team dynamics
Seeing a professional supervisor – how do I work?
I believe I am an empathetic and approachable practitioner who values honesty, transparency, integrity and upholds clinical practice standards and ethical principles. As a professional supervisor I like to work collaboratively with individuals and teams, and I value diversity and different perspectives.
A supportive, reflective supervision process
I encourage a supervisory process that is supportive, reflective, and supports learning and development for both practitioners involved within a relationship of mutuality. Reflective skills are a key component to help facilitate this learning process.
I use different models and approaches depending on the individual and their needs.
I am particularly drawn to the reflective learning model of supervision as described by Davys & Beddoe, 2021. The supervision session is driven by the supervisee who presents an issue and the goal/s of the session are clarified. The issue is then analysed in detail by exploring both the impact on the supervisee, and the implications for practice. The resultant understandings or decisions are then checked for viability in practice. Finally, an evaluation is undertaken as to whether the issue has been addressed or resolved appropriately. It is set in a postmodern social constructionist understanding of the plurality of truths and hence parallels the complex environment that many practitioners work in.
Reference
Davys, A., & Beddoe, L. (2021). Best practice in professional supervision: A guide for the helping professions (2nd ed.). Jessica Kingsley.
Dr Susan J. Hawken
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