Beck / Bannink Handbook of Positive Supervision

for Supervisors, Facilitators, and Peer Groups
1., 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61676-465-4
Verlag: Hogrefe Publishing
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 216 Seiten

This clearly written, practical handbook describes an innovative and successful approach to individual, group, and peer supervision that is suitable for use in any environment (clinical, corporate, educational, health, governmental, community): positive supervision.
Positive supervision focuses on what actually works instead of on problems and on supervisees’ strengths rather than on their deficits. The task of supervisors using this approach is – unlike the more traditional problemsolving
– to create solutions with their supervisees and to teach them to apply the same approach when working with their own clients.
Essential reading for all supervisors, this book introduces a new form of supervision, based on positive psychology and solution-focused brief therapy, that is shorter, more positive and hopeful, and more cost-effective than traditional methods.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Beck, Fredrike

Bannink, Fredrike

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Coaching, Training, Supervision
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologische Disziplinen Coaching, Training, Supervision
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Berufliche Bildung Coaching, Training, Supervision

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Handbook of Positive Supervision;1
1.1;Table of Contents ;6
1.2;Preface
;10
1.3;Acknowledgments
;13
2;Chapter 1 – Supervision;16
3;Chapter 2 – Positive Supervision;30
4;Chapter 3 – Pillar 1: Goal Formulation;52
5;Chapter 4 – Pillar 2: Finding Competence;70
6;Chapter 5 – Pillar 3: Working on Progress;94
7;Chapter 6 – Pillar 4: Reflection;110
8;Chapter 7 – Follow-Up Sessions;130
9;Chapter 8 – Working Relationship;140
10;Chapter 9 – Important Issues in Positive Supervision;160
11;Chapter 10 – Twenty-Two Frequently Asked Questions;172
12;Chapter 11 – Supervisees Speak Out;186
13;Chapter 12 – Epilogue;192
14;References;194
15;Websites;200
16;Appendices;202

Leseproben

Chapter 2 Positive Supervision (p. 17-18)

Water the flowers, not the weeds.
Fletcher Peacock

The basis for positive supervision is formed by two recent trends in psychotherapy, which share a positive focus: positive psychology (PP) and solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT). The history and principles of both will be briefly outlined.

Research in PP shows that positive emotions provide creativity, flexibility, and empathy, which are important in supervision. SFBT focuses on the desired outcome in the future instead of on the undesirable situation in the past or present. Goal formulation, a focus on what works, and signs of (further) progress are at the basis of SFBT. I developed four basic solution-focused questions, which are recognizable throughout the chapters in this book by the four pillars of positive supervision. These pillars are: goal formulation, finding competencies, working on progress, and reflection. This format differs from traditional models, in which sequential phases of supervision or phases in the development of supervisees determine the way supervision is done. This chapter concludes with a brief comparison between PP and SFBT.

Principles of Positive Supervision

In Chapter 1 a definition of positive supervision is presented: the guiding of supervisees to greater competence and the increase of their competencies by building solutions.

You might be wondering whether negative supervision exists. My answer to that question is negative. I think there is no negative supervision because all forms of supervision – including traditional problem-focused supervision – aim at helping colleagues to achieve desired changes in their lives and work.

Therefore I prefer to speak of traditional supervision when I refer to problem-focused supervision where one focuses on repairing what is wrong instead of building on what is right. The good news is that positive supervision does not have to be built from scratch. In some cases there is already a (unfortunately often brief) focus on what works. According to Beunderman and Van der Maas (2011, p. 59) the supervisor gives positive feedback when needed (italics FB). One important difference with positive supervision is that positive feedback is not just given when needed, but that this form of positive reinforcement (operant conditioning) is given as much and often as possible (see this Chapter and Chapter 4). The aforementioned authors discuss with the supervisees their strengths and weaknesses (p. 23). They do not clarify how those strengths are used in supervision in order to contribute to (further) progress. I will describe this in more detail in Chapter 4, discussing finding competencies and the concept of competence transference: how supervisees’ strengths may be used to overcome problems or to function optimally.

Positive supervision is not about problem analysis, but about goal analysis: “What do you want to have achieved at the end of the supervision?” or “How will you know that this supervision (session) has been useful?” or ‘“What are your best hopes?,” followed by “What difference will that make?” The important question “What else?” invites supervisees to think about what else contributes to hope, difference, what works, and next steps, not only from their own perspective, but also from the perspective of others, such as their clients, colleagues, and family members. This open question suggests that there is more. A closed question (“Anything else?”) will easily produce a negative answer because it does not invite supervisees to look any further.