Clinical supervision

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Supervision is used in counselling, psychotherapy, and other mental health disciplines as well as many other professions engaged in working with people. Supervision may be applied as well to practitioners in somatic disciplines for their preparatory work for patients as well as collateral with patients. Supervision is a replacement instead of formal retrospective inspection, delivering evidence about the skills of the supervised practitioners.

Contents

It consists of the practitioner meeting regularly with another professional, not necessarily more senior, but normally with training in the skills of supervision, to discuss casework and other professional issues in a structured way. This is often known as clinical or counselling supervision (consultation differs in being optional advice from someone without a supervisor's formal authority). The purpose is to assist the practitioner to learn from his or her experience and progress in expertise, as well as to ensure good service to the client or patient. Learning shall be applied to planning work as well as to diagnostic work and therapeutic work.

Milne (2007) defined clinical supervision as: "The formal provision, by approved supervisors, of a relationship-based education and training that is work-focused and which manages, supports, develops and evaluates the work of colleague/s". The main methods that supervisors use are corrective feedback on the supervisee's performance, teaching, and collaborative goal-setting. It therefore differs from related activities, such as mentoring and coaching, by incorporating an evaluative component. Supervision's objectives are "normative" (e.g. quality control), "restorative" (e.g. encourage emotional processing) and "formative" (e.g. maintaining and facilitating supervisees' competence, capability and general effectiveness).

Some practitioners (e.g. art, music and drama therapists, chaplains, psychologists, and mental health occupational therapists) have used this practice for many years. In other disciplines the practice may be a new concept. For NHS nurses, the use of clinical supervision is expected as part of good practice. [1] [2] In a randomly controlled trial in Australia, [3] White and Winstanley looked at the relationships between supervision, quality of nursing care and patient outcomes, and found that supervision had sustainable beneficial effects for supervisors and supervisees. Waskett believes that maintaining the practice of clinical supervision always requires managerial and systemic backing, and has examined the practicalities of introducing and embedding clinical supervision into large organisations such as NHS Trusts (2009, 2010). [4] [5] [6] Clinical supervision has some overlap with managerial activities, mentorship, and preceptorship, though all of these end or become less direct as staff develop into senior and autonomous roles. [7]

Key issues around clinical supervision in healthcare raised have included time and financial investment. [8] It has however been suggested that quality improvement gained, reduced sick leave and burnout, and improved recruitment and retention make the process worthwhile. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

United Kingdom

Clinical supervision is used in many disciplines in the British National Health Service. Registered allied health professionals such as occupational therapists, [16] physiotherapists, [17] dieticians, [18] speech and language therapists [19] and art, [20] music and drama therapists are now expected to have regular clinical supervision. C. Waskett (2006) has written on the application of solution focused supervision skills to either counselling or clinical supervision work. Practising members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy [21] are bound to have supervision for at least 1.5 hours a month. Students and trainees must have it at a rate of one hour for every eight hours of client contact.

The concept is also well used in psychology, social work, the probation service and at other workplaces.

Models or approaches

There are many different ways of developing supervision skills which can be helpful to the clinician or practitioner in their work. Specific models or approaches to both counselling supervision and clinical supervision come from different historical strands of thinking and beliefs about relationships between people. A few examples are given below.

Peter Hawkins (1985 [22] ) developed an integrative process model which is used internationally in a variety of helping professions. His "Seven Eyed model of Supervision" was further developed by Peter Hawkins along with Robin Shohet, Judy Ryde and Joan Wilmot in "Supervision in the Helping Professions" (1989, 2000 and 2006 and 2012 [23] ) and with Nick Smith in "Coaching, Mentoring and organisational Consultancy: Supervision and Development" (2006 and 2013 [24] ) and is taught on the courses of the Centre for Supervision and Team Development as well as many other supervision training courses.

S. Page and V. Wosket describe a cyclical structure.

F. Inskipp and B. Proctor (1993, 1995) developed an approach based on the normative, formative and restorative elements of the relationship between supervisor and supervisee. The Brief Therapy practice [25] teaches a solution focused approach based on the work of Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg which uses the concepts of respectful curiosity, the preferred future, recognition of strengths and resources, and the use of scaling to assist the practitioner to progress (described in [26] ). Waskett has described teaching solution-focused supervision skills to a variety of professionals [27]

Evidence-based CBT supervision is a distinctive and recent model that is based on cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT), enhanced by relevant theories (e.g. experiential learning theory), expert consensus statements, and on applied research findings (Milne & Reiser, 2017). It is therefore an example of evidence-based practice, applied to supervision. CBT supervision meets the general definition of clinical supervision above (Milne, 2007), adding some distinctive features that reflect CBT as a therapy. This includes a high degree of session structure and direction (e.g. detailed agenda-setting), but within a fundamentally collaborative relationship. Also, there is a primary emphasis on cognitive case conceptualization, mainly through the use of case discussion, intended to develop diagrammatic CBT formulations. But discussion should properly be combined with other CBT techniques, including Socratic questioning, guided discovery, educational role-play, behavioural rehearsal, and corrective feedback. Another distinctive aspect is a focus on evidence-based principles and methods, including the use of reliable instruments for feedback and evaluation, in relation to both therapy and supervision. Perhaps the single most defining characteristic of evidence-based CBT supervision is the active and routine commitment to research methods and findings: where other approaches refer to theory and clinical/supervisory experience for guidance, evidence-based CBT supervision appeals ultimately to 'the data'. Examples of the use of relevant theories, expert consensus statements and research, together with six formally-developed supervision guidelines (illustrated through video clips), can be found in Milne & Reiser (2017).

Counselling or clinical supervisors will be experienced in their discipline and normally then have further training in any of the above-mentioned approaches, or others.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychologist</span> Professional who evaluates, diagnoses, treats and studies behavior and mental processes

A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how individuals relate to each other and to their environments.

Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are psychological assessment, clinical formulation, and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists also engage in research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and administration. In many countries, clinical psychology is a regulated mental health profession.

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Integrative psychotherapy is the integration of elements from different schools of psychotherapy in the treatment of a client. Integrative psychotherapy may also refer to the psychotherapeutic process of integrating the personality: uniting the "affective, cognitive, behavioral, and physiological systems within a person".

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Behaviour therapy or behavioural psychotherapy is a broad term referring to clinical psychotherapy that uses techniques derived from behaviourism and/or cognitive psychology. It looks at specific, learned behaviours and how the environment, or other people's mental states, influences those behaviours, and consists of techniques based on behaviorism's theory of learning: respondent or operant conditioning. Behaviourists who practice these techniques are either behaviour analysts or cognitive-behavioural therapists. They tend to look for treatment outcomes that are objectively measurable. Behaviour therapy does not involve one specific method, but it has a wide range of techniques that can be used to treat a person's psychological problems.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of psychotherapy</span>

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Trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy or counselling that aims at addressing the needs of children and adolescents with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other difficulties related to traumatic life events. This treatment was developed and proposed by Drs. Anthony Mannarino, Judith Cohen, and Esther Deblinger in 2006. The goal of TF-CBT is to provide psychoeducation to both the child and non-offending caregivers, then help them identify, cope, and re-regulate maladaptive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Research has shown TF-CBT to be effective in treating childhood PTSD and with children who have experienced or witnessed traumatic events, including but not limited to physical or sexual victimization, child maltreatment, domestic violence, community violence, accidents, natural disasters, and war. More recently, TF-CBT has been applied to and found effective in treating complex posttraumatic stress disorder.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Read The Code online - The Nursing and Midwifery Council". www.nmc.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  2. ↑ "clinical-supervision.com". clinical-supervision.com. Archived from the original on 2000-08-17. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  3. ↑ White E, Winstanley J, Does clinical supervision lead to better patient outcomes in mental health nursing? Nursing Times; 106: 16, pp. 16–18, 2010.
  4. ↑ Waskett, C. Clinical Supervision using the 4S model 1: considering the structure and setting it up' Nursing Times 106: 16, pp. 12–14, 2010.
  5. ↑ Waskett C', Clinical Supervision using the 4S model 2: training supervisors to deliver effective sessions' Nursing Times 106: 17, pp. 19–21, 2010.
  6. ↑ Waskett, C. 'Clinical supervision using the 4S model 3: Keeping it going. Nursing Times 106: 18, 2010.
  7. ↑ Davis, Cynthia; Burke, Linda (September 2012). "The effectiveness of clinical supervision for a group of ward managers based in a district general hospital: an evaluative study". Journal of Nursing Management. 20 (6): 782–793. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01277.x . ISSN   1365-2834. PMID   22967296.
  8. ↑ "Nursing theories 2: clinical supervision". Nursing Times. 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  9. ↑ Barratt, Caroline (2017-01-18). "Exploring how mindfulness and self-compassion can enhance compassionate care". Nursing Standard. 31 (21): 55–63. doi:10.7748/ns.2017.e10671. ISSN   2047-9018. PMID   28097993.
  10. ↑ Wallbank, Sonya; Hatton, Sue (July 2011). "Reducing burnout and stress: the effectiveness of clinical supervision". Community Practitioner: The Journal of the Community Practitioners' & Health Visitors' Association. 84 (7): 31–35. ISSN   1462-2815. PMID   21941708.
  11. ↑ White, Edward (June 2017). "Clinical Supervision: invisibility on the contemporary nursing and midwifery policy agenda". Journal of Advanced Nursing. 73 (6): 1251–1254. doi: 10.1111/jan.12970 . PMID   27021076.
  12. ↑ Ashburner, C (2016). "Seeing things differently: Evaluating psychodynamically informed group clinical supervision for general hospital nurses". NT Research. 9 (1): 38–48. doi:10.1177/136140960400900108. S2CID   71035507.
  13. ↑ Teasdale, K.; Brocklehurst, N.; Thom, N. (January 2001). "Clinical supervision and support for nurses: an evaluation study". Journal of Advanced Nursing. 33 (2): 216–224. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01656.x. ISSN   0309-2402. PMID   11168705.
  14. ↑ Cutcliffe, John R.; Sloan, Graham; Bashaw, Marie (October 2018). "A systematic review of clinical supervision evaluation studies in nursing". International Journal of Mental Health Nursing. 27 (5): 1344–1363. doi:10.1111/inm.12443. PMID   29446513. S2CID   46801036.
  15. ↑ "Nursing theories 2: clinical supervision". Nursing Times. 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  16. ↑ "Occupational therapy - helping you to live life your way | BAOT/COT". Cot.org.uk. 2012-01-23. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  17. ↑ "The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy | The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy". Csp.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  18. ↑ "British Dietetic Association BDA". Dietetics.org.uk. 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  19. ↑ "Home". Rcslt.org. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  20. ↑ "British Association of Art Therapists". Baat.org. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  21. ↑ "The British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy". BACP. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  22. ↑ Hawkins, P. (1985). Humanistic psychotherapy supervision: a conceptual framework. Self and Society: Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 13(2), 69–79.
  23. ↑ Hawkins, P., and Shohet, R. (2012). Supervision in the Helping Professions. (Fourth edition) Maidenhead: Open University Press/ McGraw Hill.
  24. ↑ Hawkins, P. and Smith N. (2006, second edition 2013) "Coaching, Mentoring and Organizational Consultancy: Supervision and Development." Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw Hill.
  25. ↑ Netrix Limited. "BRIEF - Europe's largest provider of solution focused Brief Therapy training". Brief Therapy. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  26. ↑ "Solution focused supervision article". Northwest Solutions. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  27. ↑ Henderson, P. (Ed.), Supervisor Training: issues and approaches; Waskett; Learning to supervise using a solution focused approach. Karnac, 2009.

Sources

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  • P Hawkins, R Shohet. Supervision in the Helping Professions: an organisational, group and organisational approach; Open University Press, Maidenhead, 2nd ed 2000 3rd Edition 2006, 4th edition 2012
  • P Hawkins and N Smith(2006, second edition 2013) "Coaching, Mentoring and Organizational Consultancy: Supervision and Development." Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw Hill.
  • S Page, V Wosket. Supervising the Counsellor: a cyclical model; Routledge, London & New York, 1995
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  • D Milne (2007). An empirical definition of clinical supervision. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 46, 437–447.
  • D Milne & R Reiser (2017). A manual for evidence-based CBT supervision. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.
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