What you should expect out of Supervision with Mindful Mentor

Purpose of Supervision: enrich the clinician’s attitudes, knowledge and skills in order to competently provide quality care resulting in improved clinical outcomes.

Three Components of Supervision:

Educational/Clinical: the supervisor teaches therapeutic skills and helps with clinician develop self-awareness in order to better the therapeutic interactions with clients.

Goals of Supervision:

  1. Teacher

  2. Mentor

  3. Consultant

  4. Career counseling

  5. Sounding board

  6. Advisor

  7. Administrator

  8. Evaluator

  9. Recorder and documenter

  10. Empowered

Administrative: objectives of the agency/organization’s policy and public accountability are transformed into tasks to be accomplished by the clinician. This includes learning appropriate guidelines of ethical paperwork and documentation.

Supportive: the supervisor guides the clinician in finding ways to decrease job related stress in order to improve job performance and confidence.

  1. Promoting supervisee growth and development through teaching.

  2. Protecting the welfare of the client.

  3. Monitoring supervisee performance and gatekeeping for the profession.

  4. Empowering the supervisee to self-supervise and carry out the above goals as an independent professional.

The Roles of a Supervisor

Qualities of a Good Supervisor

  1. Warm and supportive

  2. Provides useful feedback and constructive criticism

  3. Experience and effectiveness as a mental health clinician

  4. Possesses good clinical insight

  5. Empathic - ability to be present with a supervisee

  6. Adheres to ethical practices

  7. Ability to support and challenge

  8. Multicultural awareness

  9. Training as a supervisor

  10. Ability to manage multiple tasks, relationships and levels

  11. Available and approachable

References:

Fall, M. & Sutton Jr, J. M. (2004). Clinical Supervision: A Handbook for Practitioners. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Haynes, R., Corey, G., & Moulton, P. (2003). Clinical Supervision in the Helping Professions: A Practical Guide. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Thompson

Office of Continuing education; University at Buffalo. https://socialwork.buffalo.edu/continuing-education/training-registration/EBP-mental-health/mental-health-competencies/clinical-supervision.html