The topic of this podcast is supervision and how we can do it better. I talk with two expert educators in the field, Pam Cohen and Marie Heydon.
Pam Cohen was the senior staff supervisor at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney for many years, and now has a private practice at St Vincent’s Clinic, mainly with cardiac and pulmonary patients.
In addition to her clinical work, Pam is an expert in group work and the clinical supervision of Allied Health professionals. She has taught courses in clinical supervision, group work and the psychosocial aspects of cardiac disease all over Australia.
Marie Heydon has extensive experience as a clinician, supervisor and educator in the health sector, including running individual and group supervision for staff and students. Marie currently works as a senior workforce development consultant in health. She also does consultancy work as an Authorised Visitor for the NSW Trustee and Guardian.
Together, Pam and Marie regularly present an in depth 4-day course on supervision for social workers, to further develop the supervision practice of participants. The course was originally devised by the renowned Sheila Truswell and Claire Bundey in the late 80’s – and through their succession planning, continues to this day.
Our conversation explores the key issues covered in their course, including,
- What we mean by the term supervision
- Working with the power dynamics and power differentials in the supervisory relationship
- What the research tells us about the effectiveness of supervision
- Why supervision may be an antidote or preventative for burnout
- Working with differing learning styles
- How to give feedback that is both challenging and constructive
and
- How to improve the capacity for reflexive and reflective practice.
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Marie and Pam are remarkable women and extraordinary practitioners and mentors. I found this an enlightening discussion on the power dynamics and power differentials in the supervisory relationship. I thoroughly aligned with building capacity for reflexive (tacit-kneejerk) ability to respond instinctively to a multitude of presenting issues and critical incident responses, and then critically self-reflect and also develop a team approach to reflective practice. The terminology, that supervision is ‘nourishing and flourishing’ my professional self, has truly resonated with me today and evoked deep reflection on how much I value the revision, information gathering, feedback, mentoring, educating and professional sharing that I receive from my Clinical Supervisor and how that positively influences the depth of my critical reflection and dedication to a continuum of learning through clinical supervision and practice research. An inspiring discussion, I to, am very proud to be a social worker
Very interesting interview on very comprehensive and informative comments by two very professional women. A subject that definitely important in social work and is often poorly done. Thank you.