Workshop 2: Supervision to Support the Conscious Use of Self
People enter into social work often from a place of wanting to help or serve others. This intention comes from the person’s world view and at times, their own life experiences, some positive, some negative. While social work training hopefully assists in the examination of these views and motivations, an ongoing awareness is required throughout a social worker’s career.
This workshop will explore the role of supervision to support this awareness and the integration of the personal and professional self in social work. This includes critical reflection of beliefs and values, and the role of self-disclosure, emotions, intuition and relational dynamics. Supervision provides the opportunity for reflexivity and to deepen insight and self-awareness, essential for safe practice when working with people experiencing complexity and vulnerability in their lives. Questions and exercises to help supervisors and supervisees increase their conscious use of self in their practice will be provided.
The unspoken rite of passage for experienced social service practitioners is to be supervisors; and for more experienced supervisors to be supervisors of supervisors. Supervision is a complex yet fulfilling endeavour (from my one perspective!) There lies the potential for the development and nurturance of practitioners for the ultimate well-being of clients through thoughtful service.
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In the process of supervision of supervisors, there is the increased complexity of keeping an eye on the space between the supervisor of supervisors; observing for parallel process that transverses across the client systems, therapeutic systems, supervisory systems and supervision of supervisory systems.
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This workshop will expand the systemic approach to supervision to include the context of supervision of supervisors. Practice ideas will be shared with the hope that supervision and supervisors will be experienced as enriching and growth enhancing for all involved.
Workshop 1: Supervision of Supervisors
Workshop 3: Supervision of Group Work Practice - The K.I.S.S Model
Group work is one of the key responsibilities and core competencies required of a social worker in direct practice. The importance of having supervision in group work practice is unquestionable. However, what constitutes good supervision in group work practice? How different would supervision of group work be from case management supervision? Come join us in this experiential workshop where you get to explore the multidimensional nature of the supervision process in group work practice. Participants in this workshop will learn about the K.I.S.S model of supervision developed in Students Care Service and walk away with the 10 tips of effective supervision in group work practice!
Workshop 5: Fast and Furious: Supervision in a Fast-paced Social Work Setting
Medical social work (MSW) in the local mental health setting must cope with ever-changing models of mental health care delivery, which potentially unleash controversies about roles and functions, leadership and reporting structures. The fundamental challenge faced by MSW supervisors is in negotiating these changes with their supervisees. With the abbreviated length of stay in a cost conscious culture, supervisors also have to support their supervisees in balancing their role as patient
advocates with institutional needs.
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Empowering supervisees to assert a professional stake in the increasingly complex multi-disciplinary team is one of the more difficult challenge supervisors experience. Keeping supervisees’ morale going and reinforcing their professional identity becomes a core emphasis in supervision.
Yet in spite of these challenges, MSWs continue to thrive in the setting. Using an interactive platform, the facilitators will explore the effects of the challenges faced in their supervision experience. The session will also discuss administrative and clinical supervision strategies that supervisors could adopt in their work to drive supervision in a fast-pace, multi-disciplinary setting.
Why boundaries and ethics in supervision matters? Ethics are the heart of our social work strong profession. Right ethical decision-making fosters professionals’ morale and strengthens professional reputation. Thus, ethical practice in social work supervision should be enforced to help our social workers make the right decision when facing challenging dilemmas in today’s high demand world. The goal of this training workshop is not to solve any single dilemmas, but to foster a platform where participants can explore, revisit, and share their working experiences in dealing with issues of dual relationships and ethical boundaries. In which it can direct ethical decision-making in our professional supervision work context which include society, profession, organization, client, and self in order to assure professional integrity and responsibility. The intended outcomes of the workshop are: 1) explore topic of ethics and boundaries; 2) provide information including history and guiding frameworks in dealing with dual relationships and ethical decision-making; and 3) summarize principles and core values of a profession in the ecology system to ensure social work supervisors’ recognition of their professional liability, responsibility and accountability and the possible legal implications related to their supervisory responsibility.
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With the upcoming social changes, there have been contemporary challenges to social work practice. Social work supervisors should equip themselves with adequate values, knowledge, and skills in the process of delivery of professional supervision to their supervisees.
Workshop 6: Boundaries and Ethics in Supervision
Mrs Juliana Toh
Clinical Director
Counselling and Care Centre
Ms Nicki Weld
Director
CNZN Ltd, New Zealand
Mr Lee Seng Meng
Centre Director
Students Care Service
Mr Nur Fadhli Bin Prayitno
Senior Social Worker
Students Care Service
Mr Gideon Ng
Senior Medical Social Worker
Institute of Mental Health
Ms Chan Lay Lin
Principal Medical Social Worker
Institute of Mental Health
Dr Agnes Ng
Chief Executive
The Nurturing Education
Please choose your workshop here when you register for the seminar.
Workshop 4: The Use of Attachment Theory in Social Work Supervision
Bowlby’s theory of Attachment has been used to explain the impact of early childhood experiences with primary attachment figures on a person’s internal working models for subsequent relationship formation, maintenance and termination (1982, 1988). As such, the ability of the social worker in building a secure base with the client would determine the extent to which the client is able to feel safe enough to explore his or her problems in the context of his environment towards the management of his or her problems.
This workshop introduces Attachment Theory and the idea of its use in social work supervision in Singapore. The presenter would put forth his experiences in the use of this theory in social work supervision and his observations of the reverberating impact of such interventions across the various levels of systems. The implications of the use of this theory on the supervisor would also be discussed.
Mr Tony Ong
Senior Therapist
Counselling and Care Centre
Social Work Supervision in Singapore:
Innovative Ways to Chart the Bare Essentials
SWAAB Seminar 2017
