Trainee’s Call to Action: Participatory Action Research of Lived-Supervision at a Mental Health Training Center
Location
1049
Format Type
Paper
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
12-1-2017 11:45 AM
End Date
12-1-2017 12:05 PM
Abstract
Supervision is an intricate part of the training of psychology and family therapy graduate students. According to Biever et. al. (2014) supervisors and supervisees face the dilemma of an embedded hierarchy in practice, making the supervisor’s point of view superior than of the supervisee; this is more complex when practicing from a postmodern, systemic and social justice orientations. The power and knowledge dynamic in supervision of social justice practices could easily turn unjust. Much has been written raising questions about this dilemma but rarely from the perspective of supervisees. How is lived-supervision perceived by supervisees, supervisors and staff at a mental health service, and what can be learned from it to create change in light of the theories taught, is the question of interest that motivated our participatory action research. By “lived-supervision” we mean the phenomenon of supervision as performed by those involved. We selected a university’s training counseling center as the recruitment site of participants due to its social justice orientations of training and service; and also because we were members. Participants consisted of supervisees, supervisors and staff in practice at the center. We invited them to take part in focus groups and to do fieldwork in the community. In this presentation we will share our lived experience designing, conducting and reporting participatory research as supervisees, supervisor-in-training and supervisor.
Trainee’s Call to Action: Participatory Action Research of Lived-Supervision at a Mental Health Training Center
1049
Supervision is an intricate part of the training of psychology and family therapy graduate students. According to Biever et. al. (2014) supervisors and supervisees face the dilemma of an embedded hierarchy in practice, making the supervisor’s point of view superior than of the supervisee; this is more complex when practicing from a postmodern, systemic and social justice orientations. The power and knowledge dynamic in supervision of social justice practices could easily turn unjust. Much has been written raising questions about this dilemma but rarely from the perspective of supervisees. How is lived-supervision perceived by supervisees, supervisors and staff at a mental health service, and what can be learned from it to create change in light of the theories taught, is the question of interest that motivated our participatory action research. By “lived-supervision” we mean the phenomenon of supervision as performed by those involved. We selected a university’s training counseling center as the recruitment site of participants due to its social justice orientations of training and service; and also because we were members. Participants consisted of supervisees, supervisors and staff in practice at the center. We invited them to take part in focus groups and to do fieldwork in the community. In this presentation we will share our lived experience designing, conducting and reporting participatory research as supervisees, supervisor-in-training and supervisor.
Comments
Breakout Session A