Supervision for children’s wellbeing – part two

In this second episode of our two-part series, our guests from The Bouverie Centre – Hanna Jewell, Banu Maloney, Julia Oxley, Nicholas Barrington and Angie Nyland – continue to share supervision strategies that focus on the wellbeing of children. They discuss how supervision can help practitioners to find motivation, avoid judgement, and improve their contextual understandings of the families they’re work with.

In their efforts to support change in children’s lives, practitioners may feel stuck, or overwhelmed when this change does not happen immediately. Connecting the practitioner to their own personal ethics or the values of their service can help create a foundation for calmer and more positive conversations. These conversations can reduce emotional intensity and give practitioners the space to critically reflect on their own reactions to clients, while making plans for a different approach in future sessions.

The Bouverie Centre is an integrated practice-research organisation that has been bringing family therapy to Australia since 1965. Their mission is to promote healthy relationships in families, organisations and communities. As part of their practice, Bouverie Centre professionals are interested in supervision processes that bring the voice of the child into the room during case discussions, even when the child may not be directly involved in the professional engagement.

During supportive, reflective supervision, practitioners can engage in the micro-level of their practice, taking time to unpack their successes and challenges, without fear of judgement from their supervisor. These supervisory relationships ultimately lead to more positive outcomes for children and their families.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• howto work with a practitioner in supervision when they describe their client in a more punitive or negative way [03:42]
• the importance of slowing down engagements so that practitioners can understand the context of each family member’s experiences [06:12]
• some strategies supervisors can use to help practitioners when they are feeling stuck in their work with children and families [10:27]
• supervisory tips for helping the practitioner to describe their values, so that they can use them to overcome practice challenges [19:07]
• how to use reflective practice with practitioners to create safety and avoid judgement, both between the supervisor and practitioner and the practitioner and family relationship [24:34]
• how supervisors and practitioners can create space to reflect on what has worked in practice, in ways that reinforce achievements and motivate continued learning [26:47]

Further resources from Emerging Minds:

Supervision for children’s wellbeing – part one podcast

Supervision for children’s wellbeing online course

Six ways to support child-focused practice in adult services practice paper