The New Social Worker Vol. 20, No. 4, Fall 2013 | Page 16

Groups

B

Considerations in Group Supervision
by Claudia DeWane, D.Ed., LCSW, BCD

y day, I’m a social work professor,
by night, a social work clinical
supervisor. Some social workers do not get the benefit of social work
supervision in the workplace; many are
supervised by those in other professions.
The intense and sometimes emotionally-depleting work of our profession
demands that the work (and worker) be
supervised by someone who knows what
the work entails and the toll it can take
on the worker.

In addition, social workers looking for clinical licensure sometimes do
not have clinical supervision available
to them on the job, and therefore need
to seek it privately. When I realized
that many of the MSW graduates I
had taught had no social work supervision, a colleague and I started a clinical
supervision group. It is in a social work
supervision group that social workers can
be heard, understood, guided, protected,
validated, supported, and reassured!

The specialization I chose in my
MSW program was group work, and my
doctoral dissertation was about learning
in self-help groups, so doing supervision
in a group format provides the best of
several worlds to me. It can include the
“teaching” aspect that I love, it keeps me
aware of system and social justice issues
in our field, and I get to be involved in
client work without having to endure
some of the unpleasant facets of direct
care, such as billing and on-call work!

Several supervision group members
have commented that they appreciate
the opportunity to be with like-minded
workers in the group. Some of them may
be the only social worker in their agency
and often have no one who views situations through the multiple lenses that social workers do. Most importantly, when
ethical dilemmas arise, social workers
become what I call “the conscience of
the agency.” At times, workers from
other disciplines fail to see the potential
consequences of a sticky ethical boundary crossing or some other situation with
potential ethical implications.

Freda Brashears (1995) calls social
work supervision a ???????????????)????????M????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????!??????????????()?????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????Q???????)?????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????%??????????)???????????????????????????+?q??????????????????????t?]???????)???????????????????????????????)????????Q?????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)$??????????????????????????????)???????????($)%???????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????)????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????)???Y????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????)???????Q????????????????????((??()????????()Q???9??M??????]????()???????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????($)M??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)??$?????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????????$???????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????)]????????????????????????????)??????????]????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????()?????????????????????????????)?????????????????=???????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)??????????????($)???????????????????????)???????????????????????????????)?????????5????????????????????)????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????($)=??????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????qI?????????M???????t??????????????????????)??????????????????????????e????????Q???????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)???????????????????q?????t??????)???????????????????????????????????????????????????%???????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????($)??????????????????????)?????????????????????????????)??????????????????????Q?????????)$??????????????????????????)???????????????????%???????????$)????????????????????????????????????????????
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