Penny Henderson, Jim Holloway & Anthea Millar, Practical Supervision: How to Become a Supervisor for the Helping Professions

This chapter explores group supervision. There are several positive reasons for group supervision, including saving time and money, the benefit of multiple viewpoints and varied feedback, having greater opportunity for working with difference and diversity, working with a supportive framework, and the opportunity to gain an increased understanding of the dynamics between the service users and practitioners. However, there are also several potential hazards, including: less time for each supervisee, boundary issues between group members and unspoken negative dynamics.

There are four types of group supervision: authoritative, participative, cooperative, and peer (Proctor and Inskipp, 2008). Authoritative group supervision occurs when the supervisor takes responsibility while others observe. Participative group supervision occurs when the supervisor takes responsibility but encourages the rest of the group to participate as co-supervisors. Co-operative group supervision occurs when the supervisor monitors and supports the group in developing their own system of supervision. Finally, peer supervision occurs when the supervisory responsibility is shared equally.

Group size is an important component of group supervision. The group size should range from three to six; any more would lead to insufficient time to meet each member’s needs, which could compromise work.

Penny Henderson, Jim Holloway & Anthea Millar, Practical Supervision: How to Become a Supervisor for the Helping Professions (London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2014) ch 13, “Exploring Group Supervision.”