An Introduction to The Empowerment Model of Clinical Supervision
What makes a great supervisor? What about a not-so-great one? It has been both surprising and affirming to hear the community’s stories of mental health clinical supervision, including the need for something different, something modern, something more. For many of us, we’ve had a challenging experience where we felt unsupported or unheard by a supervisor. And since research tells us many people leave a job because of their bosses, this becomes even more critical in community mental health where our boss can hold roles as our supervisor, leader, auditor, biller, advocate, and colleague, just to name a few.
Modern Approach to Supervision
So where does one start to improve their supervision experience? There is growing popularity to seek the Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) credential when working in the role of supervisor in mental health. The ACS credential is helping mental health professionals pursue further training and competency in the role of supervision. And yet one of the most referenced handbooks on supervision in support of the ACS training modules was written and released in the early 2000s. Not surprisingly, we need a modern updated approach as the challenges faced in community mental health and beyond require an upgrade. Having worked in community mental health and actively participated in the professional development of a team of 15 green therapists for several years, my awareness of supervision needs was intensified after having a hard supervision experience followed by a heavenly one. My last supervisor in community mental health showed me with her actions what it meant to be empowered and to empower others as a leader and supervisor. Through her insight and my own experiences in the role of supervisor leading to successful, happy supervisees representing the next generation of mental health professionals, The Empowerment Model of Clinical Supervision was defined.
What is The Empowerment Model?
What does it take to be an empowered supervisor that can empower others? An exploration of redefined roles within the supervisor and supervisee relationship is a place to start. The Empowerment Model names and defines roles of:
· Self
· Leader
· Researcher
· Teacher
· Consultant
· Colleague
You’ll notice that the role of counselor from previous models is intentionally omitted for several reasons, including to respect boundaries of supervision and to avoid dual roles in the supervisory relationship.
How is it different?
Beyond The Empowerment Model reflecting modern roles within a fluid model rather as opposed to a traditional stair-step model, our initial research findings also indicated that supervisees who were engaged in The Empowerment Model by their supervisors showed significant improvement in categories of General Supervision, The Administrative Counseling Process, The Clinical Counseling Process, and The Conceptualization Process compared to the control group. A model that can be applied for professional growth in both supervisors and supervisees including common ethical and clinical dilemmas in community mental health, why wouldn’t we want to embrace a modern model that supports collaboration and connection?
Where do I learn more?
If we’ve caught your interest in applying The Empowerment Model to your own work as a supervisor, leader, or therapist, you are in luck!
We offer:
1) interactive trainings with CEs
2) a book on Amazon with 33 vignettes for application of the model
3) a workbook to explore and apply the concepts to your own experiences
all found at our website: https://empowermentmodelsupervision.com
Are you ready to explore what you need in a supervisor? Or ways you can grow into this role in your professional career? We are confident that you will find the materials offered by Supervisionary, LLC approachable, engaging, and empowering to your professional development, and can’t wait to see how it enhances your work within our shared communities of mental health!
Written by Khara Croswaite Brindle, MA, LPC, ACS