Strength-Based Supervision: Frameworks, Current Practice, and Future Directions

Abstract

In response to an article that described a “Zen-like” method of counselor supervision where the student is “beaten” into understanding, the authors present a different method, likening it to the wu-wei practice in Zen and Taoism. This model is strength-based, punctuating what the counselor does well rather than looking for problems. Wu-wei is different from some traditional models where supervisors tend to assume that their view of the client/counselor relationship is more informed and correct than the counselors they supervise. This article reviews counseling supervision, and suggests that a strength-based wu-wei model and an understanding of isomorphy in supervisory relationships are the preferred practice for the supervision of family counselors. Various contexts are presented in addition to family counseling training. It is posited that this model of supervision potentiates the person-of-the-counselor.

In Search of an Informed Supervisory Practice: An Exploratory Study

“…Those who used this approach referred to it in terms of working collaboratively with supervisees and focussing on both the clients' and the supervisees' strengths (see : Cohen 1999;Edwards and Chen 1999;Knight 2006;Lietz and Rounds 2009;Saleebey 2001;Thomas and Davis 2005).…”

Snapshot of Clinical Supervision in Counseling and Counselor Education

“…Some writers adapted counseling approaches to supervision, such as solution-focused (Presbury, Echterling, & McKee, 1999), strength-based (Edwards & Chen, 1999), and systemic (Montgomery, Hendricks, & Bradley, 2001) perspectives. These articles typically were built on similar works published earlier, and were primarily instructive (i.e., how to).…”

Untitled

“…For example, narrative supervisors argue that the label "supervision" suggests a worldview of a developmental hierarchy of vision, experience, and knowledge (Carlson & Erickson, 2001;Edwards & Chen, 1999;Speedy, 2000).…”

“…necessary to defend their methods scientifically/empirically (Edwards & Chen, 1999 Like existentialism, postmodernism provides important philosophical theories, approaches, models, and techniques for understanding the human condition and how best to accentuate its attributes and confront its shortcomings (Hoffman, Stewart, Warren & Meek, 2009). Both approaches, however, may lack the level of pragmatic application some supervisors want and/or need to serve as independent alternatives to somewhat more established clinical and supervisory practices.…”