This book is a response to the felt need of social work practitioners for professional supervision. Reflecting on the social work profession in the context of contemporary socio-economic and political challenges and wide-ranging organizational and practice settings, the book provides a voice for supervisors to share their experiences. Social workers often deal with difficult, undefined and unique human situations where there are no ready-made solutions or quick fixes. This constant and complex working process can cause stress, burnout and affect their quality of work and judgement if they are not supported appropriately and in a timely way. One such support to them is offering professional supervision to enhance their professional functioning and their quality of service. On the one hand, the narratives of experienced supervisors reveal critical dilemmas, core processes and content, expectations, issues posed, and concepts and theories employed in professional supervision, and on the other, the wisdom and qualities of supervisors. This book analyzes concepts and models employed by supervisors and the complex interaction of their qualities and wisdom that arise from their narratives. It underscores the supervisee's being through integrating the personal and professional self to deliver better quality services to people, agencies, and communities. The book argues that the current trends compel action for well thought through professional supervision for all who need it. Those interested in professional supervision – supervisees, practitioners, and supervisors – will benefit from reading this book. Enlightening Professional Supervision in Social Work: Voices and Virtues of Supervisors is the resource that both supervisors and practitioners need to create safe environments to carefully reflect, develop knowledge, sharpen skills and effectively engage in practice. It will improve services to clients and organizational service provision, and not only benefit both practitioners and supervisors in social work and human services, but also social work educators and students, social policy administrators as well as managers and trainers in the social services sector.

Supervision in Educational, Social and Medical Services Professions investigates both theoretical and practical aspects of stress, burnout and brain-drain; the need for supervision; the benefits of professional supervision; and the most common types of supervision; and provides a definition of the supervisor and their role in educational, social and medical professions. The book also presents quantitative research on a sample of 400 professionals (educators, medical assistants, psychologists, and social workers), aimed at identifying the need for supervision, the understanding and acceptance level of supervision, the advantages of supervision, as well as the burnout and brain-drain levels of professionals supplying direct services to their clients. The book is the result of a postdoctoral grant and will appeal to a wide range of professionals such as social workers, psychologists, medical assistants and doctors, teachers, researchers, as well as to all those interested in the field of social work and willing to develop professionally and personally.

Social work supervision has been identified as one of the most important factors in determining the job satisfaction levels of social workers and the quality of service to clients. As an indirect but vital factor in the social work process, it is surprising that supervision has not received as much attention as other components of social work practice, such as social work research or administration. A book on social work supervision is desperately needed to bridge the gap between the demands of the field and the absence of literature. Social Work Supervision: Contexts and Concepts aims to provide readers with basic knowledge of theories, research, and practice of supervision. The book will address the needs of social work supervisors, frontline practitioners, students, and educators. The book is ideally suited as a text for graduate courses on social work supervision, as it contains a comprehensive literature review of the historical development, theories and models, and empirical research studies of the subject. Equally important, this is a book from practice experience in supervision that enhances the competence of supervisory practice. It will help social workers, supervisors, and administrators to realize and revitalize their "mission" in social work, that is, to benefit clients. Key Features: * Presents social work supervision as a rational, effective, and interactive process focusing on the whole person of the social worker * Discusses the history, the nature and definitions, and the theoretical models of social work supervision * Explores the major functions of social work supervision—administrative, educational, and supportive * Addresses the specific format and structure of supervision sessions

“This excellent book is a back to basics reminder of the fundamentals of supervision. It provides an easy to read guide to improve and strengthen the essential yet sometimes neglected supervision process … One particular strength are the good-practice checklists in each chapter; they summarise what is core and crucial to the effectiveness of supervision, provides useful examples of practice and a ‘what to do’ list of actions.” Sofie Franklin, Child Protection Social Worker, UK “This book shows how reflection and critical analysis should be at the heart of good supervision and explains why this is not always achieved. More importantly, it goes on to inform readers on how to get the most out of supervision with examples of good practice. Personally, I have found the book to be most helpful as part of my own early professional development.” Gary Law, Children and Young People in Care Social Worker, Bury Local Authority, UK “In this accessible and comprehensive book, Bill McKitterick brings his wealth of professional experience to bear, reinvigorating professional supervision in social work and reinstating its place at the heart of practice. This is a timely challenge to the tyranny of managerialism and process compliance in social work” Sue White, Professor of Social Work, University of Birmingham, UK Part of a new Social Work Pocketbooks series, this brief and to the point social work resource enables students, social workers, supervisors and line managers to understand what good supervision is and how to implement it. Useful features include: Practical ways for supervisors and social workers to prepare for and use supervision Strategies to improve supervision or start again when it has fallen into disuse Methods and advice to protect and prioritise time and space for supervision Advice on maintaining supervision alongside organisational focus on performance management Addressing supervision in multi-professional settings Written by an experienced practitioner, this book recognises the working environment of social workers and their managers and provides the structure for them to collaborate as peers.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a critical juncture in the development of the welfare state affirming its importance for its citizens’ economic, health and wellbeing, and safety, especially for its most vulnerable populations. It demonstrated that the crisis preparedness that is crucial for an effective protection of its citizens, the ultimate purpose of the welfare state, unquestionably exceeds the narrow horizon of a corporatised welfare industry with its singular focus on the maximisation of profit for the elites and cost containment for the government. Social workers need to engage with the contradictions and tensions that spring from underfunded welfare services and engage in the political struggle over a well-resourced welfare state. Contributors to this book take on this challenge. By tracing the various contradictions of the pandemic, the contributors reflect on new ways of thinking about welfare by exploring what to keep, what to challenge and what to change. By highlighting important challenges for a social justice-focused response as well as exploring the many challenges exposed by the pandemic facing social work for the coming decades, contributors critically outline pathways in social work that might contribute to the shaping of a less cruel and more capable welfare state. Using case-studies from Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia, Italy, Slovenia, Estonia, Sweden, Spain, South Africa, Canada, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, China and the United States, the book features 19 chapters by leading experts. This book will be of interest to all social work scholars, students and practitioners, as well as those working in social policy and health more broadly.

Challenges in Professional Supervision draws on the latest research and theory to explore issues, trends and developments in supervision work. The provision of excellent supervision is strongly linked to improved performance and staff retention. In this book, supervision is examined across a broad range of settings, addressing concerns common to a range of professions, including health, social work and counselling. The book is divided into two sections: the first describes the contemporary themes in professional supervision and the second discusses the models and skills being employed to deliver it. Issues such as supervising ethically, practitioner wellbeing and managing the process are all explored. There are also chapters on group supervision, supervision of managers and how to have difficult conversations. This book is ideal for managers and senior practitioners in health and social care with an active interest in developing, energising and inspiring their supervision practice, as well as academics interested in keeping up-to-date with developments in the field.

This is an accessible guide to being an excellent supervisor. It includes practical examples and offers a model of supervision which has been tried and tested in the field.

This guidebook covers aspects of social work supervision such as learning styles, teaching techniques, emotional support for supervisors, and supervision in different settings, and discusses ethics and legal issues. This third edition addresses changes in the field brought on by new technologies and managed care. It adds new case illustrations and exercises, revised questionnaires, and assessment scales modified to conform to recent data. There is also new material on using DSM-IV categories for assessment and diagnosis, cultural diversity, and social worker stress and burnout. Munson teaches social work at the University of Maryland-Baltimore. c. Book News Inc.

Effective supervision helps to nurture confident social workers who are able to look after service users in the best possible way. Social work supervisors and managers need mastery of the relevant knowledge and skills in order to ensure successful social work practice. This book is an accessible guide to the essential skills of social work supervision. It covers the development of the supervisor–supervisee relationship, the assessment and management of risk, understanding and managing poor performance, and support for the supervisors themselves. The book follows a model which recognises the far reaching impact of supervision and provides a sound foundation for critical thinking and reflective practice. Practice vignettes and exercises for the reader are included throughout the book. This book is essential reading for social work students, social work supervisors and managers, practice teachers and assessors, and trainers, as well as those in allied professions.

Supervision is currently a "hot topic" in social work. The editors of this volume, both social work educators and researchers, believe that good supervision is fundamental to the development and maintenance of effective practice in social work. Supervision is seen as a key vehicle for continuing development of professional skills, the safeguarding of competent and ethical practice and oversight of the wellbeing of the practitioner. As a consequence the demand for trained and competent supervisors has increased and a perceived gap in availability can create a call for innovation and development in supervision. This book offers a collection of chapters which contribute new insights to the field. Authors from Australia and New Zealand, where supervision inquiry is strong, offer research-informed ideas and critical commentary with a dual focus on supervision of practitioners and students. Topics include external and interprofessional supervision, retention of practitioners, practitioner resilience and innovation in student supervision. This book will be of interest to supervisors of both practitioners and students and highly relevant to social work academics. This book was originally published as a special issue of Australian Social Work.