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Group
supervision is an approach used with groups of about 6-10 professionals to
create a community of learners and to support their emotional well-being. It is
intended to complement individual supervision approaches.
Group supervision is a method that can be used to support those who work in the
helping professions such as Portage workers, Family Support Workers, teachers,
teaching assistants and many others. This is intended to support the professionals
who attend to (Hawkins and Shohet, 2006):
- develop
their skills and understanding (educative function),
- manage
the emotions and stress raised by their work and (supportive function)
- ensure
work is ethical and appropriate (managerial function).
The sessions
last 1 1/2 to 2 hours and are run approximately once every 6 to 8 weeks at a
location convenient for the group of professionals. A professional contract is
drawn up with managers of the professional in the group to discuss possible
content of the group, reporting back formats, frequency and other issues.
Ground rules are drawn up with the group to agree what can be discussed, approaches
used, venue and other aspects of the group.
It is
important for all participants to be clear about the nature and purpose of the
supervision and also to agree details about the relationship between the
supervision group and other ‘stakeholders’. Furthermore, there is a need to clarify
what is and is not going to be addressed in this supervision relationship and
ensure that there is agreement about accountabilities and the boundaries of
confidentiality. There should be consideration of how any differences and
difficulties in the relationship will be addressed should they arise (e.g. who
might be involved to help in addressing any difficulties, and at what point?)
Professional contract
With the
supervision of a group of professionals, it is vital that key lines of
accountability around decision-making are clearly agreed and recorded. This
gives clarity around liability, legal and case responsibility which normally remains
within line management structures. It is likely that the line manager is a
different person to the group supervisor, so it is important to establish the
relationship between the two types of supervision and the information exchange between
the two processes. It is advised to use a written group contract.
Group working agreement
A contract,
known as the group working agreement, should identify the following:
- roles
and responsibilities of the supervisor and supervisees,
- agree
methods for setting agendas
- agree
boundaries and how to agree the focus of sessions - establish the range of issues
and areas of work to be brought to supervision, what will not be brought and
the methods used to explore them
- record-keeping
i.e. what the records are for, who will see them, where will they be stored and
for how long
- confidentiality
measure
- timings
- venue
– a safe private space
- how
sessions will be reviewe
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