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Supervision for Trauma-Informed Practice

Authors:
Roni Berger at Adelphi University
Roni Berger
Laura Quiros at Adelphi University
Laura Quiros
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Abstract

To become trauma-informed, a system of care must demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of trauma and recognition of it as both interpersonal and sociopolitical. Although awareness of the need to enhance systems of care to become trauma-informed has been growing in recent years, even when trauma is not the main focus of service, training of all professional, administrative, and secretarial staff is essential to transform an agency to become trauma-informed. One vehicle for training the professional staff is supervision designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of practitioners who provide services to clients who have experience trauma. This article discusses how the principles and strategies of supervision can be adapted and applied to foster the professional and personal growth of practitioners and enhance their mastery of trauma-informed care. Supervision of trauma-informed care shares with other types of supervision the major components of educational, support, and administrative guidance and oversight. However, because constant interaction with traumatized clients may have negative effects on practitioners, some elements of trauma-informed practice supervision require special attention. The article has 3 parts. First, we discuss the goals, nature, and educational, supportive, and administrative functions of supervision in the healing professions. We then review basic assumptions of trauma-informed practice, specifically, safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment. Third, we identify personal and agency-related challenges and risks to practitioners in learning and executing trauma work and analyze the protective function of supervision in addressing these challenges. We present principles for effective supervision that enhance the ability of practitioners to provide trauma-informed services and decrease their risks for vicarious traumatization (i.e., trauma reactions caused by interaction with those directly exposed to traumatic events). Finally, we describe an illustrative case example and suggest directions for future research.
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... In the scientific literature, the importance of the supervision of professionals through trauma-informed training is indicated, considering their daily witnessing of life's adversities and traumas of children and young people, as a result of which many face high rates of secondary traumatic stress [4,28]. In trauma-informed practice supervision, in addition to trauma-informed principles, safety, reliability, choice, collaboration, and empowerment of professionals should be applied [28]. ...
... In the scientific literature, the importance of the supervision of professionals through trauma-informed training is indicated, considering their daily witnessing of life's adversities and traumas of children and young people, as a result of which many face high rates of secondary traumatic stress [4,28]. In trauma-informed practice supervision, in addition to trauma-informed principles, safety, reliability, choice, collaboration, and empowerment of professionals should be applied [28]. In addition to the supervision of professionals, significant follow-up activities are shown after the trauma-informed training, regular meetings, coaching, and mentoring, and periodic additional training [25]. ...
... This study identified specific barriers in the implementation of a trauma-informed approach such as the worker's stress, hostile environment, physical fatigue from the work, time of day fatigue, and stress associated with meeting all of the policy requirements involved with the removal and residence of the child [2]. These barriers may refer to the consequences resulting from the daily witnessing of life's adversities and traumas of children and youth with trauma experience [4,28]. ...
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  • Sep 2024
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... Face à ces résultats antérieurs un peu discordants, ce sont les modalités spécifiques et les ajustements imposés à la supervision par le travail psychodynamique auprès de populations traumatisées qu'il y a lieu d'explorer et de comprendre plus en profondeur. En effet, bien qu'il existe plusieurs études sur la supervision en général, on ne retrouve que très peu d'études sur l'évaluation systématique de la supervision spécialisée à la clinique des traumatismes (Berger & Quiros, 2014). Le tout est d'autant plus préoccupant lorsque l'on prend en compte la forte probabilité pour un thérapeute de recevoir des personnes traumatisées dans une pratique clinique généraliste (Culver, McKinney & Paradise, 2011) et les potentiels effets délétères pour le thérapeute et le patient qui en découlent. ...
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  • Jan 2005
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