Is Trust Alive?
by Jane Rosenblum LCSW, ACSW, CCM
Mar 4, 2015 Previously published on PsychCentral.
Trust and trust-building encompasses a triad: values, ethics and moral standards that define society and relationships.
It’s the foundation of a person, a society and the norms that are accepted as right vs. wrong and good vs bad. Trust is the platform that needs to be continually stoked to be retained by the person.
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is key to understanding how a person understands the invisible and unspoken rules of right and wrong, appropriate behavior (fitting in or not) and how to interact with others.
Kohlberg’s theory (an expansion of Piaget) goes into further detail about what makes someone act in the manner they do with various people. A summary of the six stages of moral development is below.
Level I: Preconventional: Moral values reside in external or in bad acts. The child is responsive to rules and evaluative labels, but views them in terms of pleasant or unpleasant consequences of actions, or in terms of the physical power of those who impose the rules (the parent or caregiver).
Level II: Conventional/Role Conformity: Moral values reside in performing the right role, in maintaining the conventional order and expectancies of others as a value in its own right.
Level III: Postconventional/Self-Accepted Moral Principles: Morality is defined in terms of conformity to shared standards, rights, or duties apart from supporting authority. The standards conformed to are internal, and action-decisions are based on an inner process of thought and judgment concerning right and wrong.
Currently the ability to develop this standard may be more difficult due to a myriad of issues such as: the increase in the nomad style of living; increase in the number of divorces; increase in the number of single-parent families; increase in stress economically; and society’s messages to people via social media, gaming, television and movies.
During a short period of time, schools were quite concerned about the unraveling of character traits and were invested in developing and teaching character skills. Yet, this has transformed into various derivations — reworded and even discontinued — seemingly to reassert that the responsibility lies with the parent(s).
It doesn’t help people to view dysfunctional relationships or to determine how terrible a relationship may appear or not, by watching the variety of talk shows, which highlight inappropriate styles of interactions and relationships. They do not bring in people with healthy and happy relationships because no one wants to see something positive and there’s no drama associated with happy people.
The talk shows bring people together who, on the surface, don’t seem to know how to trust others, who don’t communicate well, who don’t know how to problem-solve, who don’t have good control of their emotions, who don’t take responsibility for themselves and who don’t know how to trust themselves.
There is a glut of these television shows, which host participants who want to share their story in the public eye. Then there are the observers (whether they’re in the audience or watching this elsewhere) who are invested in hearing these conflictual situations and seem to take pleasure in each story of distress and pain and lack good judgment and insight.
Many people can be swayed and influenced by what they see and don’t question the veracity and appropriateness of the material being presented. There are many articles and discussions that try to evaluate the appropriateness or not of specific commercial media and its messages. Others suggest that the influence of the social media can lead people to make poor decisions, which can lead toward dangerous actions and consequences.
Take, for example, a child who hears the message from their parent that they are worthy, kind, good, smart and capable. They receive food and other necessary items without tension, they are listened to and asked their opinions. This child will grow up trusting others, have a good sense of self-esteem and worth and would be seen as trustworthy.
A person can develop trusting relationships if they consistently see others do as they say and follow through, no bluffing allowed. The communication between parent and child is essential to developing this necessary skill to enhance one’s ability to develop, retain and sustain friendships and emotional connections with others.
If a child is not treated in this manner, they are at risk of not understanding relationships and often the side effects are limited friends, isolation, bullying, depression and a disconnection with society.
Eric Erickson’s Stages:
Hope: Trust vs Mistrust: Will I be okay?
Will: Autonomy vs. shame and doubt: Is it okay to be me?
Purpose: Initiative vs. guilt: Is it okay for me to do move and act?
Competence: Industry vs. inferiority: Can I make it in the world of people and things?
Fidelity: Identity vs. role confusion: Who am I and what can I be?
Love: Intimacy vs. isolation: Can I love?
Care: Generativity vs. stagnation: Can I make my life count?
Wisdom: Ego integrity vs. despair: Is it okay to have been me? (Wikipedia.org)
Many clients I’ve worked with over the years don’t or can’t trust others based on their past experiences whether it’s with family members, friends, school personnel, relationships and community agencies.
One woman in particular comes to mind. I had worked with her daughter and herself for many years. At year 7, she was able to inform me of a particular situation, which has caused her to feel constant angst. She hadn’t been able to feel trust in me because of my license as a social worker, and the heartbreaking event that occurred earlier in her life.
However, she was able to explain to me what the event was and how her anguish had stopped her from discussing her fears. At this point, I was able to affirm with her ways I can help her adjust and cope. I wasn’t going to make any decisions to change her family constellation.
I was honored that she was able to discuss this event and she learned that she could trust me with the confidential information. Her perception of my role, regarding this specific event, was wrong. She realized that and actually apologized to me for not informing me earlier, years ago.
I found she felt better and relieved that, after discussing the situation with me and identifying a plan to deal with pending changes in her family life, this was positive and possible for her to achieve.
The 4 I’s in Mistrust:
Insecurities: This is your sense of who and what you are; you don’t have confidence in yourself. This person has poor self-worth and esteem and questions everyone’s intentions.
Image: How you perceive and are perceived by others. If you don’t see yourself in a positive light, then it will be difficult to sustain a good impression on others and believe in yourself.
Imagination: Some people may spend time creating fantasies of what they wish would occur and who they want to be with. They avoid the current situation to avoid dealing with reality in order to escape the pain, fear and discomfort.
Irrational ideation: One’s thinking process, regarding relationships, is faulty. It may have traits of narcissism, anxieties and depression. The ability to be introspective and have insight into oneself is limited.
The negative side of not trusting: Many people don’t trust and act out in order to control others because they have fears. People don’t want to be taken advantage of, used and abused. They don’t want to let down their defenses. People don’t trust due to past events, feeling wronged and failed attempts at personal connections gone wrong.
People fear closeness and intimacy and being hurt and use defense mechanisms and boundaries to protect themselves. Sometimes, an elaborate means of testing occurs to see if the person is or isn’t trustworthy.
The positive side of trusting: You will feel good about yourself. Your behaviors and communication is positive with others. You develop good solid friendships and have a strong internal sense of strength.
4 Ways To Be Truthful with Yourself:
- Acknowledge why you find it difficult to trust. Take a look at the family of origin issues and determine how you came to have this difficulty. Then move forward to function and focus on now, work on those behaviors, attitudes and beliefs one step at a time.
- Honesty is difficult but very important to have with yourself. Then, you can begin to be honest with others. You will learn to trust your decisions and judgments.
- Express what bothers you, instead of keeping it inside where this can cause undue stress, pain, worry and angst. Use clear descriptive words. Don’t be afraid to state your thoughts.
- Take responsibility for your actions and words are important. Being able to acknowledge we may repeat mistakes occurs. Being able to admit that you’re human is the first step in forgiving yourself for not being perfect.
Developing the ability to trust is important in one’s ability to trust yourself as the rewards are rich in self-worth and esteem and confidence. It just feels good and will help build positive relationships with others.
Trust needs to be nurtured and fed in order to grow. Practice techniques of strengthening yourself via journaling, talking with a therapist, reading articles on taking care of yourself, re-evaluating where you started and where you’ve progressed on your journey to be a trusting and trustworthy individual.
Then you can look in the mirror and say, “I trust me!” Then you may be able to say to another person, “I trust you, too.”
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Executive Functioning: What is EF?
By Jane Rosenblum LCSW CCM Previously published on PsychCentral.com
Executive functioning refers to the ability of the brain to manage multiple events smoothly and behave and interact with others appropriately. To make it easier we’ll break it down into two components: Executive and Functioning.
Executive refers to the director or head of management which is in charge of an individual’s functioning. Executive skills focus on an ability to synthesize information or take into account the what, where, when, why and how of any given situation. If you consider the brain as the executor its components are: self-regulation, goal setting, flexibility, initiation and persistence, planning and organization, execution and goal setting.
Executive skill functioning as defined by Wikipedia states the following: Executive functions (also known as cognitive control and supervisory attentional system) is an umbrella term for the management (regulation, control) of cognitive processes, including working memory, reasoning, task flexibility, and problem solving as well as planning and execution.
Functioning refers to the actual behavior or what is being observed by others in the areas of activities and communication. How does the person function in the real world? Observations occur at home, in the community and school. It’s the symptoms that lead people, primarily teachers, social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists and counselors to think a person is experiencing difficulty in specific areas where they have to utilize many different skills at once. Functioning refers to the areas of memory, initiation and completion of tasks, attention and concentration, effort and motivation, coping ability and social skills.
Executive Function Skills Developmentally:
| Working Memory | Inhibitory Control | Cognitive Flexibility |
| ADULT Can remember multiple tasks, rules, and strategies that may vary by situation
5-16 YEARS Develops ability to search varying locations, remember where something was found, then explore other locations (e.g., a game of Concentration or hiding 4-5 YEARS Comprehends that appearance does not always equal reality (e.g., when given a sponge that looks like a rock) 3 YEARS Can hold in mind two rules (e.g., red goes here, blue goes there) and act on the basis of the rules 9-10 MONTHS Can execute simple means-to-ends tasks and two-step plans; also able to integrate looking one place and acting (e.g., reaching) at another place 7-9 MONTHS Develops ability to remember that unseen objects are still there (toy hidden under a cloth); learns to put two actions together in a sequence (remove cloth, grasp toy) |
ADULT Consistent self-control; situationally appropriate responses (e.g., resists saying something socially inappropriate, resists “tit for tat” response) 10-18 YEARS Continues to develop selfcontrol, such as flexibly switching between a central focus 7 YEARS Children perform at adult levels on learning to ignore irrelevant, peripheral stimuli (such as a dot on the side of a screen) and focus on the central 4-5 YEARS Reductions in perseveration (persisting with following a rule even when knowing that the rule has changed). Can delay eating a treat; also can begin |
ADULT Able to revise actions and plans in response to changing circumstances
13-18 YEARS Continued improvement in accuracy when switching focus and adapting to changing rules 10-12 YEARS Successfully adapts to changing rules, even along multiple dimensions (okay to shout on playground, not okay in school, okay 2-5 YEARS Succeeds at shifting actions according to changing rules (e.g., takes shoes off at home, leaves on at school, puts on boots for rain) 9-11 MONTHS Develops ability to seek alternate methods to retrieve objects beyond directly |
There is an informal assessment process that begins in the school setting and at home. Teachers might report back to the parent the following: Your child is exhibiting difficulty with recalling the lesson, integrating the material, has trouble transitioning, doesn’t appear to listen, appears distractible, seems to have difficulty fixing their mistakes, is slow to complete a task and doesn’t appear aware of the concept of cause and effect (they don’t understand how their behavior is setting up the problems they are experiencing) and are having trouble with relationships with their peers.
Parents need to continually and objectively observe their child at home and might notice the following: My child doesn’t appear to listen, is lazy, can’t remember to do chores, change in plans are difficult to adjust to appropriately, my kid loses things all the time, I have to re-explain how to do things and my child doesn’t know how to plan ahead.
Parents can help their child improve their EF skills by utilizing calendars, chore task lists, have your child write the grocery list, prepare the kitchen to make a recipe, assemble toys, play mind stimulating games, and any other activity where they have to think first then act.
Children are quite sensitive about fitting in and doing well in school. They may recognize they are struggling when they see their friends finish the test before them, have the material ready to work on, have no trouble starting or ending a task. They may say to themselves: I keep making stupid mistakes, I don’t know where I put my work or It’s difficult for me to remember what the teacher taught today.
School personnel will be thinking of ways to help the student by giving them organizational tools, specific responsibilities in the classroom that enhance organization, implementation, memory and activities to improve their social skills. The teacher may utilize a mnemonic tool to teach your child to recall information, put the daily schedule on their desk for cues, develop other visual cues for your child to learn, recall and follow or complete.
The goals for the students are to improve their ability to process information, think objectively, use memory and sequencing skills, problem-solve appropriately, control their behavior and emotions, take turns, adjust to changes in the environment, understand non-verbal social cues and ways to communicate appropriately. Many of the identified EF areas are also potentially labeled as various diagnoses: learning disabled, autistic or ADHD. It is crucial for the parent and teacher to work together to try to enhance the student’s skills prior to an assessment for special education.
The following table illustrates Dr. Brown’s model (terms used by other experts are shown in italics).
| Cognitive cluster | Executive functions |
| Activation | Organizing, prioritizing, and activating to work Initiating, planning, strategizing, and sequencing |
| Focus | Focusing, sustaining, and shifting attention to tasks |
| Effort | Regulating alertness, sustaining, and processing speed Pacing, managing time, and resisting distraction |
| Emotion | Managing frustration and regulating emotions |
| Memory | Utilizing working memory and accessing recall Using feedback |
| Action | Monitoring and self-regulating action Inhibiting |
The key is to observe your child in any situation; in this way you can determine their strengths and weaknesses. Have discussions with your child’s teachers, family and friends regarding the behaviors they see and are feeling worried about because it doesn’t seem to be age appropriate. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and some behaviors can be outgrown and or compensated. We all have moments of forgetfulness, problems with organization, explaining facts and situations. The important aspect to focus on is the degree of difficulty. Is the functioning seriously below that of their peers? Do they not look like they fit in?
Executive functioning is a key phrase in schools because of there is an expectation that a children’s mind has to grow yet they can’t go faster than they are able to process information. Comprehension is critical in a child’s ability to perceive and react to various scenarios in an appropriate manner. The child has to learn how to interpret the activities and behaviors and tasks around him. They have to know how to negotiate, comprehend and act appropriately in any given situation. Too often EF is taken for granted thinking the child will learn by observation or osmosis. Taking the time to teach and practice skills are important for growth. The child will need to be given opportunities to learn, realize mistakes are made and recognize each accomplishment. Children learn by being asked about their opinions. They need to be given opportunities to expand their vocabulary, someone to listen to them and give them feedback which increases their desire to learn. They need to be motivated to listen, question ideas and formulate hypothesis to be evaluated. This broadens their ability to problem-solve and think rationally.
Executive Functioning is very important for an individuals’ ability to function appropriately in the world in the areas of work and relationships. Schools are working on trying to link EF with child development and are attempting to determine the best ways to evaluate this issue effectively. Currently there are no official tools to determine if EF is a problem or not. There are other types of interventions that can be offered in the school setting to help offset a potential problem. Schools may lead toward special education assessments after a period of interventions over a specific period of time, in order to determine if the child has learning problems (learning disability), attentional problems (ADHD) or even depression.
The brain continues to learn and grow throughout life and training the brain is an essential component of strengthening the individual’s Executive Functioning skills to help an individual learn how to manage the complex world in which we live.
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Can the Common Core Standards Alter the Rate of Child Development?
Despite the fact that Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has outlined social-emotional benchmarks and goals to be addressed in schools, there is a growing schism between the Common Core’s emphasis on cognitive or intellectual development and growth versus the social-emotional developmental needs of schoolchildren.
In 2010, the state of Illinois adopted new standards for education highlighting the need to expand a student’s knowledge and skills in order to go on to a college education and be an active contributing member of the workforce.
In the academic year of 2013-14, these standards were adopted by all schools in Illinois. This team, funded by the Bill Gates Foundation, who are not teachers, developed these specific learning standards or common core, as a result of past research and comparison between U.S. and European workforce skills and employment.
The results of the study found that U.S. students lagged behind in education, college attendance and participation in the workforce. The solution was to develop and integrate a new curriculum, although the state reports, “they are a set of shared goals and expectations for what knowledge and skills will help our students succeed.” Additionally, the benchmarks and goals must be completed and tested yearly.
The Common Core material was not written by teachers. It is not research-based or a model that has been tested and tried in any school.
The social-emotional standards from the Illinois State Board of Education web site states: “These standards have been developed in accordance with Section 15(a) of Public Act 93-0495.”
This Act calls upon the ISBE to develop and implement a plan to incorporate social and emotional development standards as part of the Illinois Learning Standards.
Goal 1: Develop self-awareness and self-management skills to achieve school and life success.
Goal 2 – Use social-awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships.
Goal 3 – Demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behaviors in personal, school, and community context.
The social-emotional goals are very important to child development. Yet, there is little time for teachers to address them adequately and appropriately given the weight pushed by the administration to focus on Common Core standards.
School districts are evaluated based on test scores of their students with the expectation of improving the scores. The result of improved test scores can be seen in how the school is rated, what funding they receive and what supports can be provided.
The social-emotional standards are recognized by the state as mandatory for child development. School personnel are concerned about not having time to attend and teach these concepts to their students.
Teachers are worried about the negative outcomes off not being able to address this issue because they are mandated by their district to teach the core subject areas to improve test scores. They have reported to me that they (as well as the students) are more stressed and anxious since the release of the Common Core standards.
Teachers are reporting that they are having difficulty ensuring each student’s learning styles are met appropriately even when they attempt to differentiate instruction. The demand is to immerse children in the information, ignoring their developmental needs.
Teachers from a low-income school district with limited funds and resources have stated to this writer that they were informed they can’t slow down to help a student understand the material but to keep going to meet goals and benchmarks. In other words, the message is, “Don’t go back to re-teach the material.”
They are instructed by their principals to lecture and review all specific material within a specific time period. Teachers are spending their time telling their students to not only memorize information but learn and practice higher level language art skills and math concepts to improve their test scores. They have been told to inform students they will likely fail the tests especially in the first few years of this implementation.
Overall, teachers, social workers and other staff are concerned about how the student’s social-emotional needs aren’t being met appropriately as well as having little time to spend on educating the parents.
When a child’s social-emotional needs are ignored, children and adolescents may exhibit the following behaviors: intensified bullying (including cyber-bullying), anger and aggression and acting-out behaviors as well as emotional disorders like anxiety and depression.
These negative side-effects may eventually lead to inappropriate labeling and diagnosing and treatment for a behavioral health disorder with the potential for receiving special education services, medication and therapy.
Is the Common Core implementation pushing teachers, parents and children over the edge? Is ignoring the social-emotional needs of children appropriate or is it seen as an injustice to the students?
Parents are struggling to understand the new and different modes of teaching. I have had many parents state to me, whether they have a secondary education or not, that they don’t understand the new techniques, feel lost, confused and ineffective as parents in providing support to their child.
They are angry, frustrated, concerned and feel as if they have been cut out of the loop. They may or may not have their own resources to educate themselves on the Common Core standards, they may or may not understand the information and they may or may not ask for help or direction from teachers.
How can parents assist their child in learning if they don’t understand the topics being taught in a thoroughly different manner? What if the school district they live in doesn’t provide educational workshops to teach parents what concepts and techniques are being taught for each grade level? What can the parent receive in order to assist them with their child?
Parents are feeling stressed, anxious and angry when they don’t have their questions answered. They may or may not recognize that the Common Core standards are ignoring the basic social-emotional needs of their child.
There is no known research to indicate that children, although their brains are like a sponge, can accommodate this new method of teaching, which is focused on intellectual and cognitive skills without potentially damaging their psyche.
Children have specific developmental needs that must be addressed to help them mature into a functioning adult. Theorists who have focused on the necessary developmental stages of growth for children and adolescents are well recognized and acknowledged; such as Piaget, Kohlberg, Erickson, Mahler and Maslow.
The social-emotional and behavioral skills children and adolescents must learn and engage in has been extensively studied. There is acknowledgment that a child’s ability to perceive social cues, context, language and expression are learned over time via various experiences.
Children learn to interpret people’s behaviors, develop a basic understanding of cause and effect and learn unspoken social rules in order to start to regulate their own emotional and social responses to interact and cope appropriately with others.
Youth are continually evolving in their ability to accurately perceive social and emotional issues and they are learning to engage their ability to synthesize what’s acceptable behavior or not. Methods that assist children learn is via play, role-modeling and discussions to ensure they have learned appropriate social behavior.
They need to learn how to negotiate their social world in order to learn how to interact appropriately with others. In order for children and adolescents to be successful in the work world, they need to understand social cues, behaviors, language and exhibit self-control of those emotions and behaviors to succeed as well as develop their executive skills functions.
Children must learn how to socialize and communicate, without technology, with their peers and adults toward the development of their self-worth, self-identity and self-esteem. There have been many studies about students who are intellectually bright being pushed forward in school to another grade yet their emotional and social issues lag behind.
They can’t catch up because they don’t have mature social-emotional skill sets as well as abstract reasoning skills. They don’t fit in with their new peer group due to this insurmountable problem. How can the state ignore these basic needs of the students?
There has to be a balance between teaching the Common Core standards and addressing the social-emotional developmental needs of children and adolescents. Any individual whose basic social, emotional and behavioral needs are not met will not be able to function adequately in the workforce, much less in the world.
The continuing need to teach moral and ethical reasoning is important to the development of character. While the Common Core standards are an improvement on past teaching requirements, not paying attention to the students’ needs, the whole child, will lead to further lapses in functioning.
This student will then fail to live up to the expectation that they can interact with others appropriately and excel. The stress of the academic setting without acknowledgement and intervention around the basic social and emotional needs of children will lead to more pathology, impaired functioning and less impact on the workplace.
One can NOT take a child, teach them academic skills and ignore their developmental needs without negative consequences. We can NOT lose sight of the foundation of human behavior — social and emotional functioning.
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The Challenges of Providing Clinical Supervision in a Guest Setting
2015 by Jane Rosenblum LCSW CCM (previously published on psychcentral.com)~ 3 min read
Clinical supervision models and perspectives can provider a better understanding of how this service is viewed.
The National Association of Social Work (NASW) has also defined clinical supervision as educational. “This type of supervision established a learning alliance between the supervisor and supervisee in which the supervisee learns therapeutic skills while developing self-awareness at the same time.”
Additionally they write, “Supportive supervision is concerned with increasing job performance by decreasing job related stress that interferes with work performance.”
The Cambridgeshire County Council has established Four Functions of Supervision: management, learning and development, support and negotiation.
The council states that these functions are interdependent and overlap.
1- Management: The worker is being held accountable for following the procedures and policies.
2-Learning and Development: They write that the goal is to encourage and assist staff in clinical reflection and understanding of their own needs in improving their clinical skills.
3.-Support: The supervisor provides support and counseling within the identified boundaries as regulated by the term supervision.
4- Negotiation: The supervisor acts as the go-between with the managers about key issues. They are involved in dealing with any disputes, advocating for the staff member and assisting them with any remediation.”
Kadushin focused on three functions of supervision:
Administrative – the promotion and maintenance of good standards of work, co-ordination of practice with policies of administration, the assurance of an efficient and smooth-running office;
Educational – the educational development of each individual worker on the staff in a manner calculated to evoke her fully to realize her possibilities of usefulness; and Supportive – the maintenance of harmonious working relationships, the cultivation of esprit de corps.
According to the ACES Task Force Report 1/18/2011, on Best Practices in Clinical Supervision: “the responsibilities include administrative supervision, clinical supervision or both. They define administrative supervision as the “activities which increase the efficiency of the delivery of counseling services and clinical supervision as having a systems focus with program improvement and counselor’ professional developments as its purpose.”
No-Man’s Land
If you look at these reports and models, they do not address the sticky issue of supervision in a host environment or setting. The clinical supervisor, in this setting, has no model to follow. It is the no-man’s land of supervision.
Boundary and Ethical Issues to Consider:
- How does the supervisor express concerns and issues diplomatically to upper management, without breaching confidentiality of the supervisee?
- How can the supervisor provide effective critiquing without causing a schism, bad blood between the supervisor and supervisee, especially if it contradicts what is defined as a task, goal and performance criteria in the workplace?
- Who do you share your concerns about the supervisee with in this setting? Can you go to the manager, without qualms, asking about how the supervisee is performing? Can you get more details about what the supervisee is doing or not? How extensive can your questions be without stepping over invisible boundaries and roles?
Problems for the Internal Clinical Supervisor
1- Power: The clinical supervisor lacks any direct power in the workplace. His/her skills, purpose and mandate as a clinical supervisor is not necessarily understood.
2- Prestige: The clinical supervisor does not necessarily hold an identifying title. He/she needs to stay focused on the boundaries and trust in the relationship with the supervisee.
3- Position: The clinical supervisor may be in the same position as the supervisee. This situation can pose problems with recognizing the difference in experience and quality of service, the relationship, access to performance reviews and concerns of the manager or supervisor who provide audits of the individual’s work.
4- Prosperity: The clinical supervisor lacks the financial incentive to provide this service and often doesn’t receive recognition for the time and effort involved in providing and planning quality supervision.
Purposes and Abilities of the Internal Clinical Supervisor
- Problem-solving skills:The clinical supervisor will have to determine ways to develop a formal policy in the workplace for internal supervision.
- People skills: The clinical supervisor will have to stay alert to the systems in the workplace.
- Patience:The clinical supervisor must have this in abundance and wait for change, which is difficult, when faced with the political moves within the organization.
- Persistence: The clinical supervisor needs to stay abreast of the clinical arena and office, provide best practice supervision, at the same time slowly explaining and building the understanding of the upper management about the benefits, specialty and skill set clinical supervision provides to their staff: improving and providing quality skill development and mastery for the supervisee to enhance their performance and abilities to do their jobs more effectively.
It would be strongly recommended that the workplace develop a policy for internal supervision, its inherent responsibilities, roles and policies. This can be accomplished by educating various people in the organization; such as personnel in Human Resources, the director of the department and the manager.
Advocating, in your respective organization, will take time and energy in order to build-up the inherent value that you provide to the staff member(s). It is important to receive and be recognized for the skills and responsibilities and the expertise you bring to the organization.
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janerosenblumlcsw 