Supporting clinicians in the process of engaging in critical self-awareness and enhancing clinical knowledge and skill.

Many Registered Social Workers and Psychotherapists are required by their regulatory organization to obtain regular clinical supervision.  To find out if supervision is required for practice, consult your standards of practice.  The standards of practice will outline any supervisor qualifications and frequency of session requirements.

What is Clinical Supervision?

Clinical supervision is geared toward professional development, effective client service and is the opportunity to reflect on one’s own practice, to gain others’ opinions and develop a more accurate self-appraisal.  The learning process involves dialogue, openness to in-depth reflection on practice and receiving both challenging and supportive feedback.

Clinical Supervision can be delivered either one to one or in a group setting and can involve several functions:

• Administrative supervision ensures organizations are effectively providing client services as per their mandates.  A clinical supervisor may review organizational policies, procedures, practices (caseloads and record keeping) and priorities.
• Educational/Clinical Supervision is geared toward developing professional judgement, clinical skills and knowledge, self-reflection, trauma-informed lens and adherence to the values, code of ethics and standards of practice.
• Supportive supervision is aimed at developing an environment that promotes effective service delivery.  Its main focus is improving morale, reducing work-related stress, providing support and encouragement, and improving overall job satisfaction

Looking for clarification around the differences and modalities of social work supervision and consultation?  The OASW has posted a brief article to help. You can view and download the article here.