Building a Relational Context for the Examination of Growing Edges in Supervision

Overview: This presentation reviews reflective supervision tenets, with a specific focus on their applicability among non-clinical field placements of bachelor and master level social work students, and identifies reflective supervision strategies to build foundational well-being and critical reflexivity among social work supervisors.Proposal text: Reflective supervision is a well-established practice among infant mental health practitioners. This relationship-based approach ensures space for the examination of thoughts and emotions evoked in practice, and supports the growth and development of the practitioner in the context created by the relationship (Weatherstone & Osofsky, 2009). Tenets of reflective supervision are modeled and practiced in the context of supervision to support the social worker’s capacity to provide insightful, emotionally regulated, and intentional engagement in the settings they serve. Reflective supervision also fosters the development of critical reflexivity, or awareness of where one is situated in their work, and critical examination of contextual influences, such as broader systems, organizational culture, and sociocultural dynamics (Shea, 2018). Skills of critical reflexivity are recognized by the Council of Social Work Education as important components of field education and can provide essential venues for examination of bias, as well as cultural and racial positions that inform engagement at the micro and macro levels (CSWE in Educational policy and accreditation standards, 2015; Silverman and Hutchinson, 2019).

Although reflective supervision has been primarily employed with social workers in clinically focused tracks to promote clinical social work skill development, the reflective supervision model has value across fields of social work practice, including bachelor and master level practice, and among both macro and micro settings (Curry & Epley, 2020). Reflective capacity and self-awareness are essential foundational skillsets for social workers in non-clinical roles as they seek to effectively navigate organizations, communities, and policy while maintaining an understanding of the ways in which systems intersect with each other and with individuals.

This presentation will provide a conceptual review of reflective supervision tenets and discuss the examination their applicability into the non-clinical field placements of bachelor and master levels social work students. Interactive engagement and discussion of reflective supervision skills will be used to demonstrate the value of the supervisory relationship as a context for developing foundational practices to promote well-being and sustainability, and establish a space to support the examination of bias and cultural and racial positioning. Participants will engage with commonly encountered field supervisory challenges and highlight reflective supervision strategies implemented in the supervisory relationship context. Scenarios will address student self-awareness and emotion regulation, examination of bias, and consideration of intersections between the self and systems. Collaborative exploration of these scenarios will provide the opportunity to observe and participate in reflective supervision in practice.

Investing in the foundational development of social work student reflexivity, well-being, and sustainability is imperative during this time of global and national tumult, which is characterized by increased demands for and on social workers, and professional and personal stress among many practitioners (Peinado & Anderson, 2020). In pursuit of this social worker development, the supervisory relationship remains an essential source of support, as challenges faced by students and supervisors are increasingly complex. The reflective supervisory context offers a valuable venue to engage students in building foundational social work skills.