Tamara L Kaiser & Angeline Barretta-Herman, “The Supervision Institute”

This article examines the advanced supervisory training program offered at the Supervision Institute in professional social work practice.  The program consists of sessions on the supervisory relationship, power, and authority, addressing transference and countertransference issues, ethics, cross-cultural supervision, and evaluation.

The function of supervision is to facilitate and ensure competent service to clients. Thus, supervisors must be able to help supervisees learn the necessary skills for practice. The supervisor role requires understanding and influencing larger systems and the skills to act for the administration and supervisee. Notably, several themes permeated discussions throughout the course: use of power, parallel process, and diversity.

First, the use of power is often a tension-ridden issue for supervisors. They often find it difficult to engage in evaluation while also being supportive. Next, parallel process involves setting psychological and sometimes physical boundaries to ensure that outcomes can be met. Lastly, diversity often arises in developing shared meaning between participants in supervisory relationships. The greater the difference between supervisor and supervisee and the values and experiences they bring to the relationship, the greater the possibility for roadblocks in achieving shared meaning.

Tamara L Kaiser & Angeline Barretta-Herman, “The Supervision Institute” (1999) 18:1 Clinical Supervisor 33.