Roni Berger & Laura Quiros, “Supervision for Trauma-Informed Practice

This article sets out a series of principles for the supervision of trauma-informed practice. Trauma-informed supervision combines knowledge about trauma and supervision and focuses on the interrelationship between the trauma, the practitioner, the helping relationship, and the context of the work (Etherington, 2009).

Ongoing supervision is a major protective factor against vicarious trauma. Supervision for trauma-informed practice may include educational dimensions (including educating supervisees about vicarious trauma and guiding them in managing workloads), assessments of supervisees’ vulnerabilities and resilience relative to trauma based on their own experiences, helping them address job-related stress and challenges, and exercise self-care (supportive function), assigning balances trauma-related caseloads, and ensuring there is a trauma policy in place within the organization. Supervisors should incorporate principles inherent in trauma informed theory, including safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment in their trauma informed supervision. Supervisors should ensure that the environment, including physical setup and décor, reflects acceptance and openness, contributing to the supervisees’ feeling comfortable sharing work-related challenges and stresses. These environments are more conducive to identifying personal issues that may impact their work. 

Moreover, the supervisory relationship must be built on trust. This requires the supervisor to establish clear boundaries and expectations, listen without judgement, assist supervisees with reflecting on their practice, provide feedback about their performance, and remain present (Quiros et al., 2013). Additionally, the supervisory relationship should involve choice, which involves collaboration between the supervisor and supervisee, and a system of mutuality where the knowledge of the supervisee is not privileged over that of the supervisee. Finally, the supervisory relationship should be empowering; supervisees should be empowered by validation and feedback not only on challenges but on successes as well.

Roni Berger & Laura Quiros, “Supervision for Trauma-Informed Practice” (2014) 20:4 Traumatology 296. Available through ResearchGate.