Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on the interaction between supervisor and supervisee in the agency context, this book explores the interdependence of task and process in supervision. Numerous examples of supervisory dilemmas in the current turbulent environment of health and welfare services are discussed, applying a range of theoretical ideas mainly from open systems and psychoanalytic thinking.
The authors conclude that effective service-delivery continues to depend on agencies providing the "thinking space" that supervision represents, and challenge supervisors and supervisees to explore their own thinking and practice.
The authors were both until recently senior staff members at the Tavistock Marital Studies Institute and worked on its staff supervision training programmes; they were formerly practitioners, supervisors and managers in social work and probation.
Table of ContentsIntroduction. 1. The Turbulent Environment. Needs and Resources - an Inevitable Tension. 2. Piggy in the Middle. The Place of Supervision. 3. Three into Two Won't Go. Supervisory Triangles. 4. Assessing and Developing Professional Competence. Stages and Styles. 5. Feelings as Potential Evidence. Countertransference and Mirroring. 6. Passing the Painful Parcel. The Drama Triangle of Persecutor-Rescuer-Victim. 7. The Invisible Organisation. Professional and Institutional Defences Against Anxiety. 8. New or Old Bleed? Dealing with Loss and Change. 9. Calling a Halt. Exposing and Naming Differences. 10 The Use of Authority. Challenge and Containment versus Persecution and Collusive Support. References. Index.
