Emotionally Sensitive Supervision

Social work supervision can vary in terms of function, focus, and frequency. What is a constant of effective supervision is the opportunity and necessity of bringing one’s “self” into the process. Social work practice involves practitioners engaging in complex, uncertain, and challenging situations and within this context requires them to form empathetic relationships with service users. Supervision can provide a forum to explore and manage the emotional content of practice. This chapter will explore a range of features of emotionally sensitive supervision which require specific skills, permissions, and dynamics to allow for safe and meaningful emotion-focused discussion. Supervision is bi-directional, and emotionally sensitive supervision requires an explicit commitment from both supervisor and supervisee. Such supervision serves to promote positive practice, practitioner wellbeing, and can highlight the significant contribution of emotions in social work practice.