There is so much more to supervision than one might expect. This week's articles by Bennet and Miehls introduces the "behind the scenes" action that may be occurring. After reading the articles, share briefly about how you relate to these ideas within your own supervision. This exercise will help us all share about this often complex and very personal relationship and then continue the discussion in class.
The Bennett article describes in great detail about the correlation between attachment history of an individual and the effectiveness between a worker and their supervisor during supervision. This author does a great job of illustrating the importance of knowing your strengths and weaknesses in order to maximize your benefits while receiving feedback from your boss. I agree with the article when it says that students value certain traits in their field supervisors, such as support and availability. Many of our classes in field have revolved around complaints of students not receiving enough time with their supervisor because of time restraints.
ReplyDeleteAnother piece of the article that I could relate with is the section pertaining to the feeling of abandonment. Bennett (2008) states that, “Levels of anxiety were particularly low with respect to the supervisory relationship, which indicated that very few students feared rejection or abandonment by their supervisors.” I have felt extremely comfortable with my supervisor until I was told that she was leaving. Because I had confided in her and spent so much time and energy into working with her, time needed to be spent in order to re-gain trust and comfort with my new supervisor. Never did I feel anxiety with my supervision, however, because I have never set my expectations too high.
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ReplyDeleteReading Miehls (2010) article allowed me to reflect upon aspects of my supervisory relationship framed in relational theory. I found that many components of the relational based supervisory relationship are a reflection of my personal experiences with my supervisor. The article reports that although the relationship is not symmetrical, as the supervisor honors her or his advanced skills and experiences, the supervisor also recognizes the abilities of the supervisee (Miels, 2010, p.371). This rings true to my relationship as my supervisor often expresses her appreciation for my unique assets and skills that I bring to the table.
ReplyDeleteThe article also suggests that sometimes the supervisor expects a supervisee to agree and defer to his or her assessment of the client which can result in missing important information. I feel that I sometimes create this situation in fear that my opinion or assessment will be the “wrong one”. It can be intimidating as an intern trying to offer a different view or understanding as I still feel very green and unsure of myself. I am surrounded by staff who are not only in the setting daily, witnessing behaviors and spending time with clients, but who also have years and years of experience in the field. However, my supervisor supportively pushes me to offer up my opinion and makes sure to consult with me about decisions. She reminds me often that the field involves career long learning and that I may bring a fresh new perspective and more current understandings to situations.
The relational practice that I feel my supervisor and I do not carry out is the idea that supervision should not necessarily be separate from individual treatment. The article reports that clinical supervision should be created to achieve both educational and therapeutic goals and move from a traditional frame to bringing the supervisee more personally into treatment (Miehls, 2010, p.372). I feel that my supervisor and I generally do not explore my own difficulties or transference and tend to speak more objectively about issues. However I feel that if I began to shift supervision to that place, my supervisor would be comfortable in following. I think that as our relationship continues to develop, we will become more involved in exploring my therapeutic goals as well.
While reading Bennett (2008) I really started to realize my supervision is not that great. Bennett(2008) states that “ secure base of attachment with attachment figure enables exploration of the world”. In regards to my supervisors I do not have a secure base of attachment. When I have supervision with him I feel like I cannot tell him my fears because he will just explain them away instead of letting me explore those fears. I say this because this is my experience with him so far. I have gotten very close with my secondary supervisor who I go to with my questions and concerns. She is nurturing and reliable. Recently I found out she is leaving March 1st. This has given me so much anxiety with the thought that I will only have my main supervisor to go to for help. Even though m supervisor is a LICSW he is not practicing anymore, he is just the director of the organization I intern at. When conflict arises, instead of acknowledging it he says “we will talk about it later, you seem upset”. With my secondary supervisor leaving in the coming months I a very fearful about how I am going to proceed with future supervision.
ReplyDeleteThere are many great and challenging aspects of my first year placement supervision at the Hospice House. First, my supervisor and I meet for two hours each week. In addition, my supervisor comes to supervision prepared and organized with updates, projects, and questions. Finally, my supervisor normalizes my anxiety about new or challenging cases by reassuring my role as a student and letting me know it is okay to make mistakes.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the level of comfort with my supervisor continues to be a challenge and affecting my quality of supervision. According to the Bennett (2008) article, MSW students reported “high levels of trust and interpersonal comfort” with their supervisors at the field placements. I do not have the same feeling of high trust and comfort with my supervisor. Many times when I am talking during supervision, I notice she is not engaged with what I am saying. Sometimes she uses her phone while I am talking or looks up at the clock, which I interpret as she wants to get out of there. I stay fully engaged while she is talking, so I would like to have the same respect when I am talking or discussing my ideas.
Overall, I feel like my supervision is used in the appropriate manner by discussing challenging visits, ethical questions, and class assignments. Conversely, I feel intimidated by my supervisor and the way she depicts herself to me. Her body language shows me she is not fully engaged with what I am thinking or saying making me feel uncomfortable and less likely to approach her.
Both of these articles focus on the tricky dynamics that occur within supervision. It was fascinating to read in the Miehls (2010) article how the supervisor is evaluating his practice along with the person receiving supervision. Miehls states that "while not individual therapy,supervision does offer an opportunity for psychological growth for both the supervisee and the supervisor" (p. 377). My supervisor has at times pointed out that interns bring a perspective to the agency that can sometimes get lost by those working in it day to day. These conversations in supervision are often the most fascinating to me because I know that soon I will be working day to day and I hope that I will be able to reflect on how I could look at things from an interns perspective.
ReplyDeleteThe Miehls (2010) article really clicked with me in a few ways. Samantha and Jen have already touched on these notions, but I will add them again because they were relevant for me as well! I really connected with Miehls' discussion of the tendency for a supervisee to defer to the "expertise" of a supervisor. I have noticed that I tend to do that because I feel unqualified or unfamiliar with the students' experiences or situations. My supervisor has known these kids for much longer than I have, years in many cases, and has a much more in-depth view of their lives and experiences. It is difficult to just come in one or two days a week (since I split my time) and try to feel confident or like I have any idea of what's going on. I haven't really brought this up in my supervision, but I think it could be a good conversation to have. I certainly would let her know that in the future I think it's better for an intern to get practice just at the high school instead of splitting their time.
ReplyDeleteThe second aspect of the article that I could relate to, as Jen said, was the notion that supervisor's are able to reflect and improve on their own practice through supervision. This gave me some sense of hope - that our supervisors can see the work or client through our eyes and maybe gain some new energy or something in their work. I think there is great value in being a supervisor and think that it helps our supervisors examine their own practice and work with clients. It's always nice to feel like we are serving a purpose :)
I really liked the article about attachment. I enjoy theories about adult attachment in general, and have done some reading about it before. So I enjoyed applying it to supervision. Unfortunately, I think that I tend to be both anxious and avoidant when it comes to supervision. My supervisor made me cry first semester, and I've pretty much tried to avoid her ever since. I actually feel a bit relieved when she's not around.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Miehls article, I feel differently than many of my peers. I don't think that I do defer to my supervisor's "expertise" very often. Julia stated that she defers because her supervisor has known the clients much longer. Mine has never even met many of my clients. She seems pretty biased on a lot of issues too. For example, I have a kid that may well have GID (gender identity disorder) and she just refuses to accept that it's a real thing at all. There are others within the agency that I receive some good guidance from, so all is not lost.
I found the first article, "....Supervision-specific attachment styles......" by Bennett a lot easier to relate to than the Miehl's article. It gave me some insight into my relationship with my field supervisor. The first semester I basically felt overwhelmed whenever I went to my internship. Bennett states that Fortune & Abramson (1993) found MSW interns were more satisfied at their placements when they felt validated and trusted their supervisors. along with having a sufficient amount of time for supervisory conversations. During the first semester, the lack of room at my internship definitely lead to added anxiety and resentment toward the agency for not providing basic space for it's employees. At that time, I was told I could spend my time at a local coffee shop because there wasn't any room for any of the counselors to be at the agency. This semester we are in a new building with plenty of space, computers and it's a completely different experience. I feel supported and valued. I meet with my supervisor every Thursday for 1 hr of supervision and she is available as needed. I feel fortunate to have this supervisor. When I work out in the field with clients, I'll often reference back to a conversation I had with her when I feel a little stuck.
ReplyDeleteI found myself relating to the Bennett article quite often while reading it. Like several others here who have commented, I recently experienced a transition in my supervisor. I went from working with a supervisor whom I feel as though I had a healthy attachment with. When stressed and overwhelmed, I felt as though I could approach her and seek support. As discussed in the Miehls article, I feel as though our relationship was co-created. While our supervisor-supervisee relationship was being established, we were able to work on cases together, and I felt as though my own skills were valued and utilized.
ReplyDeleteWhile I am still optimistic about my new supervisor, her and I have worked together in the past, as I have been employed in this agency for several years. During that time I felt as though I was often ordered and dictated, instead of valued, the relationship and her style were authoritative. This still affects me now and I definitely relate with feeling avoidant.
I cannot help but feel as though I am evaluating my attachment to each on a relationship-specific style more so than my own general attachment style, however I enjoyed reading about the two styles because I have a better understanding of how my general attachment style is interrelated at times.
I related to the concept of the relational theory in the Miehls article. In terms of supervision, my experience as a supervisee has typically been the parallel process. As the article suggests, this process tends to place the supervisor as the authoritative figure, which, in my opinion, can hinder the relationship. The article states that the relational supervisor, on the other hand, is “conscious of the necessary and ever present tension between assumed and authorized power that infuses the work of the supervisory pair” (Miehls, 2009).
ReplyDeleteThe balance and relationship between a supervisee and supervisor can be complicated and difficult. The ideas of transference and countertransference can influence the relationship and it is important to recognized and acknowledge it. I had never considered the different types of supervisory relationships. I find it helpful to learn more about them, as I am more aware of my role and influence in the relationship. Because most of my experience as a supervisee has been through the parallel process, I view my supervisor’s as an authority figure, which can impede on the relationship.
I am interning at Southeastern New Hampshire Services, specifically the Addiction Recovery Center, which is a 28-day residential facility for people with substance abuse issues. I shared a little bit about the relationship with my supervisor last week in class. Between doing the readings and getting feedback in class, it really helped. To reiterate, my supervisor is the head of the entire organization, Southeastern New Hampshire Services. She is extremely busy and the supervisor to many people, which can be intimidating. She runs seven different programs within the organization. At times, I feel that we have a relational dynamic, but prior experience of parallel supervision has led to apprehension about the supervisory relationship. That is something that I have to work on in terms of expectations and willingness to share openly with my supervisor, without fear of judgment or repercussions. Based on feedback and further readings about this topic, I was able to be more assertive about getting proper supervision and scheduling an allotted time slot for said supervision.
I found the Bennett article much more relatable than the Miel article. It made me think about my own attachment patterns and how they play into my relationship with my supervisor. I liked her a lot in the beginning of my internship but then I felt like she wasn't sure what to do with an intern. I don't think she is comfortable being a supervisor. I spend a lot of time with her but mostly just shadowing her. What I got from the article was that in order for a student to relate to their supervisor in a positive way, they need to feel supported. As Bennett states " students who feel supported may be more likely to engage in exploration needed to develop new skills". I don't feel like my supervisor has developed a positive relationship with me, therefore I have trouble trusting her.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very interesting how the evidence states that general attachment styles may influence how students feel and relate to their supervisors. After reading these two articles I see how much plays into the relationship between the supervisor and the student. How a the student's attachment pattern has developed over his or her lifetime can affect the outcome of the supervisory relationship.