Clinical Supervision Handbook - CAMH Knowledge Exchange ..

Clinical Supervision Handbook
definition: “[clinical supervision focuses] upon the provision of empathetic support
to improve therapeutic skills, the transmission of knowledge and the facilitation of
reflective practice. The participants have an opportunity to evaluate, reflect, and develop
their own clinical practice and provide a support system to one another” (p. 8).
COMMON ELEMENTS
A comparison of the social work and nursing literature on clinical supervision
reveals common elements in the approaches offered by Kadushin’s model of three
interrelated functions of social work supervision and one model in nursing, Proctor’s
three function-interactive model (see Appendix 1, p. 103). Both nursing and social
work agree that clinical supervision should be differentiated from, on one hand, an
exclusive focus on line management, and, on the other, a quasi-therapeutic approach,
although elements of each may be present at times in the process of supervision.
COMPONENTS OF CLINICAL SUPERVISION MODELS
Administrative/normative (managerial)
Kadushin uses the term administrative supervision to describe selecting and orienting
workers/clinicians, assigning cases, monitoring, reviewing and evaluating work;
serving as socializing agent; and advocating and buffering within the organization.
Proctor uses the terms normative or managerial to describe a function that promotes
and complies with organizational policies.
Educational/formative
Both professions’ models have an educational component. For Kadushin, education
encompasses activities that develop the professional capacity of supervisees, including
teaching knowledge and skills, and developing self-awareness (Barker, 1995;
Munson, 2002) through, for example, teaching, case consultation, facilitating learning
and growth. For Proctor, educational supervision addresses skill development
for evidence-based nursing practice.
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