Module VI

Tools and Techniques

 

Key Concepts:

  1. An educational assessment is an important tool for supervision, but it is an on-going process, a work in progress, and should be developed in partnership with the practitioner and reviewed frequently so that both supervisor and supervisee are clear as to strengths and areas that need improvement.

  2. Techniques are never entities in and of themselves, should be used deliberately, and in the context of worker and client need.

  3. Contracts are no good unless they are, in fact, implemented. It is, therefore, a good idea to include in the supervisory contract the procedures that can be used if either party fails to meet the conditions of the contract.

  4. An often overlooked supervisory technique is to suggest readings to staff.

  5. Evaluation is a process that should enhance the supervisee's learning about practice in performing the educative function of supervision. Administrative evaluation that discusses promotions, salary increments, letters of reference, etc. may or may not be combined with educative or professional growth reviews. Worker defensiveness is greatly reduced when administrative evaluation processes are removed from learning- oriented supervision, according to Shulman.

  6. To be effective and constructive criticism should be used as a tool to promote growth, and the focus of the criticism should be on the work, not the individual involved. It is important for the supervisor to consider how the criticism can help the practitioner and whether the criticism can lead to a change in worker performance.

  7. Time management is life management.

  8. The best teacher and leader is a good role model.

  9. A large administrative responsibility in human service organizations is risk management. Supervisors as well as agencies can be sued for the actions of staff and supervisees. Documentation and malpractice insurance are imperative in good risk management.

  10. Supervisors must document supervisory sessions and demonstrate that they are sufficiently available to staff as part of good risk management strategy. 

v Powell's Twelve Core Functions of Supervisors

An entire course could probably be developed around the topic of tools and techniques for supervision. The focus in this module will be on clinical or educational supervision, with a focus on worker development, because that is the function that is usually neglected. While this is understandable, it is unfortunate. If staff members believe the agency is sincerely interested in their growth as professionals, morale would be good and staff turnover would be reduced, saving the agency many resources in time and money in the long run.

To decide which tools and techniques are to be used and when requires an assessment of "where the counselor is" and his/her role context and responsibilities. Considering worker needs and client needs provides the context for how to approach supervision with any given staff. Powell, for example, identifies twelve core functions in the drug and alcohol field which provide a general framework for looking at counselor competencies. These include counseling, assessment, case management, crisis intervention, and others. He also suggests that such things as professional ethics, and working with incest and dual diagnosis could very well be added to the list.

Powell posits certain qualities that a counselor should possess such as empathy, unconditional positive regard, ability to be a catalyst for change, congruence, etc. Those qualities along with certain helping skills such as attending, probing, reflecting feelings, etc., in the context of the job demands and the worker's stage of professional development create the parameters for conscious use of tools and techniques. Just as we would never suggest that a good therapist or counselor use a technique with a client without a rationale based on clinical assessment, neither should a supervisor just assume that an appealing new idea gleaned from an article, this class, or a workshop should be automatically applied without assessment of the counselor and the job he/she is being expected to do. So with the above stated as a sort of caveat, this module will present some basic tools that are available to enhance supervision.

Educational and Professional Assessment

Munson presents two very important tools for supervision: educational or professional assessment and supervisory contracting. He also identifies several questions to help supervisees think about their sessions with clients. Some of these, I believe, are very useful. Asking the worker to consider what he/she likes about the client and what he/she speculates, the client likes about the supervisee can bring up a lot of useful information that might otherwise be missed. Also asking the supervisee to consider how he/she sees him/herself in the client can set the stage for looking at possible countertransference issues. Finally, Munson makes a very important point. I quote: "When supervisors accept that they cannot be responsible for the practitioner's performance, but are responsible only for clarifying the expected standards of performance, the door is opened to interaction that allows the supervisor and practitioner to engage in a process of genuine growth and development."

What are the distinctions between administrative and practice evaluations? How are they related?

Supervisory Contracting

People probably learn more from a supervisor by observing his/her behavior than any other way. Staff is quick to spot discrepancies between words and behavior so the importance of a supervisor as role model cannot be overstated. Like it or not, your staff is watching. If you treat staff the way you expect them to treat clients, and are open and honest with them as you expect them to be with you, it is much easier for staff to "partner" with you and respect you as someone they can learn with and from. This is not to imply that supervisors should strive to be perfect. En contraire! Supervisors make mistakes just like everyone else. It is the owning of one's responsibility for them, being honest about one's limits, and setting an example for taking care of oneself that are powerful positive influences on staff.

What are the basic ingredients for the supervisory contract?

Time Management

Time management has almost become a cliché in today's pressure cooker work world, but supervisors and staff know that time management can make or break a professional in mental health and/or chemical dependency.

What are the ways you find to procrastinate and with what result? What secondary gain do you have in procrastination and what problems does it cause you professionally?

There are so many demands on all of us that to begin to even make sense of things it is incumbent on us to plan and organize our workload in some kind of reasonable time frame. Some of the frame is dictated or created by external forces, such as mandated deadlines, but some of the frame can be negotiated in supervision by helping staff set priorities, taking into consideration the holistic work situation and resources and skills of each staff as well as the agency bottom line. This in fact constitutes a more specific contract because the process clarifies expectations and both supervisor and worker are clear as to when specific tasks will be accomplished. It is important that supervisors be empathic with the demands on staff and help them recognize that they are doing a lot of things very well.

DiPadova and Faerman make several excellent points regarding time management. They emphasize that time management is life management or self-management, which includes "managing schedules, calendars, and everything from paper to attitudes to relationships." They indicate that time management is a personal responsibility, and means working smarter, not harder. Another important assumption in their article is that time management is a learned skill, and we are not born good time managers. In other words, we can assist our supervisees to develop good time management skills. In this regard, it is important to individualize staff, because there is no simple "one for all formula" for managing one's time proficiently.

In helping others to be organized, supervisors should be very sensitive to the number of meetings that are required for staff. Keeping the number of meetings to a minimum and keeping those to a limited amount of productive time presents a big challenge for supervisors/managers. For some reason, in the "helping professions" there are often far more required meetings than are really necessary to get the job done efficiently and well. Communicating clearly and listening carefully are supervisory skills that contribute significantly to good time management. Pay attention to the myths and the other suggestions that DiPadova and Faerman offer for your consideration. Some of them may surprise you.

Identify three meeting management techniques and discuss your experience as a staff member in meetings in your agency and your experience in chairing meetings. What have your learned that would have made both experiences more satisfying and productive?

What goals do you have for enabling you to work "smarter not harder"? For your staff?

Supervisory Liability

Now for a word about supervisory liability. None of us really wants to consider the unhappy possibility that as supervisors we could be sued for the actions or lack thereof of the staff we are supervising. Paul Kurzman identifies six risks that exist in human service organizations which, if they are not addressed by agency management, could very well lead to litigation or claims of unethical practice. These include duty to warn and the duty to protect confidentiality among others. Reamer points out the importance of the availability of the supervisor, especially when a supervisee has been assigned a particularly difficult or intense client situation that calls for closer supervisory support, counsel, and monitoring. Risk management must be considered one more responsibility inherent in the role of supervisor. As a part of this reality, supervisors should document supervisory sessions. Documentation is necessary for performing meaningful and specific staff evaluations, of course, but it is also crucial as a protection in the event there is litigation or complaints are officially made against the agency or you as the supervisor. Malpractice insurance is mandated by most agencies, but if you do not for any reason carry malpractice insurance or your agency does not protect you with an "umbrella" policy, you are playing Russian roulette.

What recommendations would you make to your administrative superiors to enhance risk management for you and your agency?  

v Reading Outlines and Study Questions - Module VI


Gardner, J.R. (1994) Supervision of Trainees: Tending the Professional Self. Clinical Social Work Journal, 23(3). 271-286.

This article seeks to demonstrate how self psychological concepts can be applied to the process of training supervisors and therapists in a variety of clinical and community settings.

Supervision of Trainees Study Questions

  1. What does the author mean by a "self-self-object" unit?

  2. What are some reasons for the supervisor to highlight positive behavior done by the worker? 


Munson, C. (1993). Techniques in supervision. In Clinical social work supervision. New York, NY: Haworth Press.

Educational Assessment

  1. Previous experience

  2. Ethical awareness

  3. Theoretical knowledge

  4. Assessment and diagnosis

  5. Organizational understanding

  6. Agency functioning

  7. Attitudes and values

  8. Goals and objectives

  9. Previous supervision

  10. Learning impediments

Case Material

  1. Case material should be the focus of supervision _ in considering case material, supervisor should ensure practitioner reflection to help the supervisee gain comprehensive perspective of the case.

  2. Variety of questions (provided in the reading) to help the practitioner think about future treatment sessions. 

Case Presentations: Presentations can provoke anxiety which can be lessened when the practitioner is given adequate time to prepare.

Practitioner may have two fears:

  1. Not meeting expectations

  2. Losing existing autonomy

When supervisors accept that they cannot be responsible for practitioner's performance, but are responsible only for clarifying the expected standards of performance, the door is opened for interaction that allows the supervisor and practitioner to engage in a process of genuine growth and development.

The supervisor can help the practitioner who is struggling with a case by identifying with the client to assist the practitioner in understanding what the client may be experiencing and how the client may be responding.

Level of Knowing and Technique

Level of knowing can be divided into two types:

  1. Technical skills: specific units of activity.

  2. Perspective: understanding the relationship among sets of units of activity that allows comprehension of the whole.

Continuity

Treatment Patterns

  1. Patterns of personality or behavior

  2. Patterns of life events and interaction

  3. Patterns of interaction during a single treatment session

  4. Patterns of the treatment process

Mechanics of Technique

Several factors to consider for supervisors interested in learning the mechanics of how to teach technique to practitioners:

  1. Techniques cannot be taught in isolation.

  2. Technique must be identified and taught as a series of actions.

  3. Series of techniques should be arranged from simple to complex.

  4. The supervisor who wants to learn how to teach technique should observe the teaching process. 

Overcoming Difficulty

  1. Stop the interaction and focus on analyzing the meaning of the most recent interaction.

  2. Withdraw temporarily and think of an alternate way to return to the difficult content.

  3. Avoid admitting feeling uncomfortable or overwhelmed.

Technical Difficulty

Questioning Technique

Contracting as a Technique

Reading as a Technique

Latent Supervision

Supervisor Resistance

Guidelines

Techniques in Supervision Study Questions

  1. What are the 10 basics for a good educational assessment? Why is this an important tool in supervision?

  2. What are the two types of knowing?

  3. Why is reading an important technique?

  4. List five elements of good supervision. How do these fit with your ideas of good supervision? 


Munson, C. (1993). Evaluation function of supervision. In Clinical Social Work Supervision, (pp. 203-209). Binghampton, NY: Haworth Press.

The emphasis of this chapter is on evaluation from the perspective of enhancing learning about practice.

  1. To be helpful, criticism must draw a distinction between the behavior criticized and the individual involved.

  2. When offering criticism the supervisor should avoid the words `should' and `shouldn't.'

  3. Criticism is best focused on the positive and how it will help the practitioner.

  4. It is important for the supervisee to select the treatment material that will be used in the supervision session and to prepare a self-assessment prior to the session. 

Evaluation of Practice Study Questions

  1. What does the author mean by "evaluation by learning"?

  2. Why are practice errors and criticism so important in supervision?

  3. What are some techniques for helpful and nonthreatening criticism? 


Powell, D. (1993). Basic supervisory techniques. In Clinical Supervision in Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling. (pp.147-171). New York, NY: Lexington Books.

The blended model of clinical supervision for the alcoholism and drug abuse field employs a variety of methods and techniques consistent with the assumptions and principles of the model.

The Context of Supervision

Methods of Observation

Special Supervisory Environments

Case Presentations

Three Additional Teaching Techniques in Supervision

  1. Role playing is ideal for practicing skills.

  2. Role modeling is learning by watching an expert perform the task to be learned.

  3. Demonstration is a presentation by an expert that displays and explains a procedure, followed by opportunities to discuss and practice the skills.

Main Themes or Content Areas of Supervision

Basic Supervisory Techniques Study Questions

  1. What are some ways to observe one's supervisee?

  2. What are the three teaching techniques that can be used in supervision? 


Kurzman, P. Managing risk in the workplace. In skills for effective human services management. (p. 267-279). Washington, DC: NASW Press.

  1. Duty to warn if the client discloses intent to harm himself or herself or others.

  2. Duty to keep confidential material that is shared with the agency and its practitioners in the course of the professional relationship.

  3. Duty to ensure continuity of service to clients under care.

  4. Duty to adequately record services provided.

  5. Duty to diagnose and treat clients properly.

  6. Duty to avoid sexual impropriety.

There are four major recommendations regarding risk management given by the authors:

  1. The agency must have adequate insurance that covers the premises, agency professional liability, officers and directors, vehicular insurance, bonding for all officers and staff who have the authority to sign contracts or manage the agency's income and assets.

  2. Every agency should establish legal counsel in the same way it sets up an ongoing relationship with an accountant or psychiatric consultant. 

  3. The agency should plan ongoing staff training sessions that help to send the message to the staff that organizational issues are everyone's concern.

  4. Have experts conduct a periodic program and management audit to ensure that risks are being properly managed.

Managing Risk in the Workplace Study Questions

  1. What are some possible risks that can be found in social work agencies?

  2. Describe two ways of managing risks in social work agencies. 


DiPadova, L.N., & Faerman, S.R. Managing time in the organizational setting. In Skills for Effective Human Services Management.

Research indicates that managers identify time-management problems as their greatest source of stress. A tendency to compare oneself unfavorably with other people who appear well organized and accomplished and focusing on shortcomings instead of strengths fosters discouragement, which then inhibits the energy needed to make changes. Self-management includes managing schedules, calendars, and everything from paper to attitudes to relationships.

The following assumptions are the basis of this chapter:

  1. Time management is a personal responsibility.

  2. Improving time-management skills means increasing the ability to accomplish more in less time by working smarter, not harder.

  3. Time management is a learned skill.

  4. Time management for managers differs from time management for non-managers.

  5. Time management is individualized, as everyone approaches his or her work and responsibilities in a different way.

Five Myths of Time Management: (Supervisors should recognize and reject these myths.)

  1. Being busy means being productive.

  2. Only upper management can make the important decisions.

  3. The best decisions are the delayed decisions.

  4. The quicker things are done, the better.

  5. It takes too much time to delegate.

  6. Procrastination:

Time Management Techniques

Managing Time in the Organizational Setting Study Questions

  1. How does procrastination affect managers?

  2. What are the two techniques for managing time suggested by the authors?  


Reamer, F.G. (1989). Liability Issues in Social Work Supervision. Social Work, 34(5), 445-448.

Liability Issues in Social Work Supervision Study Questions

  1. Why has the liability risk increased in the social work field?
  2. What are some of the potential liability risks for social work supervisors? 


Bernard, J.M., & Goodyear, R.K. The individual case conference methods and techniques. Fundamentals of Clinical Supervision. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon

A supervisor's choice of supervision method is influenced by a number of factors both rational and irrational.

Six reasons for choosing different supervision methods:

  1. The supervisee's learning goals.

  2. The supervisee's experience level and developmental issues.

  3. The supervisee's learning style.

  4. The supervisor's goals for the supervisee.

  5. The supervisor's theoretical orientation.

  6. The supervisor's own learning goals for the supervisory experience.

The three general functions of supervision interventions are:

  1. Assessing the learning needs of the supervisee.

  2. Shaping or supporting the supervisee's behavior.

  3. Evaluating the performance of the supervisee.

An ideal supervisor is someone who is creative yet demonstrates critical thinking. One issue endemic to all supervision situations is the challenge to think like a supervisor rather than a therapist. Seasoned practitioners tend to continue to be fascinated with therapy issues, thus focusing on client issues rather than the learning and developmental needs of their supervisees.

Three conceptual tasks that should be addressed in the supervision conference:

  1. Identify how observations and inferences are used to provide the evidence for clinical judgments.

  2. Describe and discuss major dimensions of the therapeutic relationship.

  3. Describe the assumptions regarding the client's personality, problem conditions, and choice of treatments.

Methods that supervisors can use:

The Individual Case Conference Methods and Techniques Study Questions

  1. What are the three general functions of supervision interventions?

  2. What are the three conceptual tasks that should be addressed in supervision? 


Erera, I. P. (1991). Supervisors can burn out too. The Clinical Supervisor, 9(2), 131-145.

Supervisors Can Burn Out Too Study Questions

  1. List some major work-related stressors discussed in the article.

  2. How does burnout affect supervisors in the social service field? 

Assignments: Module VI

  1. What are your greatest assets as a professional? How would you use them differently in a supervisory position?

  2. What is helpful about an evaluation process for supervisor and worker?

  3. Suggest some ways you would like to change the evaluation process with your supervisees.

     General comments, thoughts:



 
  1. What have you developed from your practice experience in the way of managing your professional responsibilities that has been most useful, effective for you?

  2. What tools or techniques have you come to appreciate as a supervisor/supervisee?

  3. How do you take care of yourself as a social worker? How is this relevant to supervision?

  4. What has been most valuable to you in the course? Least valuable? Suggestions?

     General comments, thoughts:

 



Questions From the Chapter

  1. What are the distinctions between administrative and practice evaluations? How are they related?

  2. What are the basic ingredients for the supervisory contract?

  3. What are the ways you find to procrastinate and with what result? What secondary gain do you have in procrastination and what problems does it cause you professionally?

  4. Identify three meeting management techniques and discuss your experience as a staff member in meetings in your agency and your experience in chairing meetings. What have your learned that would have made both experiences more satisfying and productive?

  5. What goals do you have for enabling you to work "smarter, not harder"? For your staff?

  6. What recommendations would you make to your administrative superiors to enhance risk management for you and your agency?

Questions From Readings

Supervision of Trainees Study Questions

  1. What does the author mean by a "self-self-object" unit?

  2. What are some reasons for the supervisor to highlight positive behavior done by the worker?

Techniques in Supervision Study Questions

  1. What are 4 out of the 10 basics for a good educational assessment? Why is this an important tool in supervision?

  2. What are the two types of knowing?

  3. Why is reading an important technique?

  4. List five elements of good supervision. How do these fit with your ideas of good supervision?

Evaluation of Practice Study Questions

  1. What does the author mean by `evaluation by learning'?

  2. Why are practice errors and criticism so important in supervision?

  3. What are some techniques for helpful and nonthreatening criticism?

Basic Supervisory Techniques Study Questions

  1. What are some ways to observe one's supervisee?

  2. What are three teaching techniques that can be used in supervision?

Managing Risk in the Workplace Study Questions

  1. What are some possible risks that can be found in social work agencies?

  2. Describe two ways of managing risks in social work agencies.

Managing Time in the Organizational Setting Study Questions

  1. How does procrastination affect managers?

  2. What are two techniques for managing time suggested by the authors?

Liability Issues in Social Work Supervision Study Questions

  1. Why has the liability risk increased in the social work field?

  2. What are some of the potential liability risks for social work supervisors?

The Individual Case Conference Methods and Techniques Study Questions

  1. What are three general functions of supervision interventions?

  2. What are the three conceptual tasks that should be addressed in supervision? 

Supervisors Can Burn Out Too Study Questions

  1. List some major work -related stressors discussed in the article.

  2. How does burnout affect supervisors in the social service field?