Abstract
This timely book on trauma-informed supervision is a collection of 11 papers, originally published in a special edition of The Clinical Supervisor (2018). Most contributions are from the United States, but there are also chapters from Germany and Australia. The editors have backgrounds in social work and counselling, and the writers come from a wide range of professions including social work, psychology, psychotherapy and education
The editors state that the purpose of this book is ‘to share professional reflections and personal stories based on their hands-on experiences across mental health and medical contexts’ (p. iii), with the aim of enhancing the knowledge of supervisors who may only have a limited knowledge and training in working with trauma. They suggest that the use of a trauma-informed process enables supervisors to increase their ‘ability to recognise either the needs of those whom they supervise or the clients their supervisees serve’ (p. iii). Although there is one chapter addressing child welfare, this book focuses on work with adults. Each chapter stands alone, so there is no sense of continuity or flow as we would expect from a series of papers brought under one book cover.
The range of chapters reflects the enormity of supervising trauma work and includes examination of the core components of trauma-informed supervision. The different chapters examine child welfare supervision, supervision in military settings and in a hospital trauma centre, intercultural supervision, and supervising cases of religious abuse and racial trauma. These papers are rich in detail and drill down from the theoretical into practical examples of what might happen within a session. Many examples are drawn from American society, and therefore some practical and societal responses will differ for readers in the United Kingdom and other countries. However, the key messages about becoming a trauma-informed supervisor resonate for all. Each chapter gives an overview of the work being supervised and provides examples of clinical work as illustrations. It is a book for those who are experienced in trauma work and presumes an understanding of the basics.
There is an emphasis on helping supervisors to find ways to help practitioners respond to survivors of trauma ‘in order to empower, normalize and validate their experiences and reactions, and minimize the risk of retraumatization’ (p. iii) and recognise that practitioners may also be indirectly traumatised by their work.
Becoming a trauma-informed dramatherapist is essential for understanding safe practice, and knowing how to supervise in a trauma-informed way adds extra skills to the supervisors’ toolkit. The writers emphasise that helping supervisees normalise and validate their own experiences is an important factor in becoming a skilled and empathetic practitioner.
Dramatherapy supervisors may find some useful research here, although it is not a book about the creative therapies. As dramatherapists are required to have ongoing supervision and may experience creative ways of reflecting on their work, the examples of more traditional talking supervision in this book will provide additional focus and support.
This is an academic book which will be primarily used by researchers and those looking for papers on specific client groups. It has a comprehensive index and is clearly laid out, although there are some editing errors. This book will be a useful addition to the growing research on supervision and will help to support requests for provision in areas that have traditionally not had it.