Discussion Forum week 5
This week included a reading assignment that introduces trauma-informed supervision. The authors
highlighted the supervisors responsibility of providing trauma-informed supervision for their
supervisees working with clients who have experienced trauma.
– Share how you feel trauma informed supervision meets the ethical responsibility of a supervisor.
As you are reading about this article, think about how this type of supervision also addresses the
ethical responsibilities of the supervisor.
Chapter 1: Understanding Leadership
Introduction
Mutual influence process.
Leadership demands placed on individuals who
are leaders.
Chapter examines different ways of looking at
leadership.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Leadership Explained (1 of 9)
Leadership Is a Trait
Trait: Bringing influencing qualities.
Belief that traits are innate.
All people have unique traits.
Right trait in right situation.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Leadership Explained (2 of 9)
Leadership Is an Ability
Ability: Capacity to lead.
Ability is both natural and acquired.
Leadership as ability example: John
Wooden.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Leadership Explained (3 of 9)
Leadership Is a Skill
Skill: Competency to accomplish task.
Know what to do and how to do.
Can be studied and learned.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Leadership Explained (4 of 9)
Leadership Is a Behavior
Behavioral dimension.
Leadership behaviors are observable and
require two behaviors:
Task behaviors.
Process behaviors.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Leadership Explained (5 of 9)
Leadership Is a Relationship
Collaboration between leaders and
followers.
Interactive event.
Ethical overtone of including followers
interests.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Leadership Explained (6 of 9)
Leadership Is a Relationship
Susan Komives and civic engagement.
7 Cs of Change model.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Leadership Explained (7 of 9)
Table 1.2 Universal Leadership Attributes
Positive Leader Attributes
Trustworthy
Just
Honest
Foresighted
Plans ahead
Encouraging
Positive
Dynamic
Motivator
Builds confidence
Motivational
Dependable
Intelligent
Decisive
Effective bargainer
Win-win problem solver
Communicative
Informed
Administratively skilled
Coordinator
Team builder
Loner
Asocial
Noncooperative
Irritable
Nonexplicit
Egocentric
Ruthless
Dictatorial
Excellence oriented
Negative Leader Attributes
Source: Adapted from House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., & Gupta, V. (Eds.). (2004). Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of
62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 677678. Reprinted with permission.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Leadership Explained (8 of 9)
Leadership Is an Influence Process
Influence the group to achieve common
goal.
Interactive event between leader and
followers.
Giving leadership ethical dimension.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Leadership Explained (9 of 9)
Leadership vs. Management
Purpose of management is to structure
functions within organizations.
Frederick Taylor: Key figure in management
theory.
Barnards conceptualization of authority.
Difference between leadership and
management.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Global Leadership Attributes (1 of 2)
The GLOBE studies.
Leadership concepts in this chapter are
from North American perspective.
Identification of leadership characteristics.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Global Leadership Attributes (2 of 2)
Table 1.1 Seven Cs of Change Model
Consciousness of Self
Congruence
Commitment
Collaboration
Common Purpose
Controversy With Civility
Citizenship
Consciousness of Self requires an awareness of personal beliefs, values, attitudes,
and emotions. Self-awareness, conscious mindfulness, introspection, and continual
personal reflection are foundational elements of the leadership process.
Congruence requires that one has identified personal values, beliefs, attitudes, and
emotions and acts consistently with those values, beliefs, attitudes, and emotions.
Congruent individuals are genuine, honest, and live their values.
Commitment requires an intrinsic passion, energy, and purposeful investment toward
action. Follow-through and willing involvement through Commitment lead to positive
social change.
Collaboration multiplies a groups effort through collective contributions, capitalizing
on the diversity and strengths of the relationships and interconnections of individuals
involved in the change process. Collaboration assumes that a group is working
toward a Common Purpose, with mutually beneficial goals, and serves to generate
creative solutions as a result of group diversity, requiring participants to engage
across difference and share authority, responsibility, and accountability for the
success.
Common Purpose necessitates and contributes to a high level of group trust
involving all participants in shared responsibility toward collective aims, values, and
vision.
Within a diverse group, it is inevitable that differing viewpoints will exist. In order for a
group to work toward positive social change, open, critical, and civil discourse can
lead to new, creative solutions and is an integral component of the leadership
process. Multiple perspectives need to be understood and integrated, and they bring
value to a group.
Citizenship occurs when one becomes responsibly connected to the
society/community in which one resides by actively working toward change to benefit
others through care, service, social responsibility, and community involvement.
Source: Komives, S. R., Wagner, W., & Associates (Eds.). (2016). Leadership for a better world: Understanding the social change model of leadership (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass, p. 21.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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The Dark Side of Leadership
Use of influence for personal ends.
Characterized by toxicity.
Current examples in world.
Leadership is complex and has many
dimensions.
Demand for effective leadership.
Peter Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020
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Chapter 2: Recognizing Your Traits
Introduction
List of important leadership traits.
Difficult to identify essential traits.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits Explained (1 of 8)
Researches identify several important
leadership traits.
Important traits based on research.
Six key traits.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits Explained (2 of 8)
Intelligence
Related to effective leadership.
Improve by being well informed.
Includes having good language skills,
perceptual skills, and reasoning ability.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits Explained (3 of 8)
Confidence
Feelings of self-assuredness.
Feeling positive about oneself.
Do not second-guess themselves
Building confidence: understanding,
mentorship, and practice.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits Explained (4 of 8)
Charisma
Leaders special magnetic charm.
Can be used in less positive ways.
Behaviors characterizing charismatic
leadership: strong role model,
competence, articulate clearly, high
expectations, inspire.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits Explained (5 of 8)
Determination
Very focused and attentive.
Decision to get the job done.
Encourage others to stay the course.
Characteristics of determined leader.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits Explained (6 of 8)
Sociability
Capacity to build social relationships.
Characteristics of sociable leaders:
friendly, outgoing, & diplomatic.
Possibility of increasing sociability.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits Explained (7 of 8)
Integrity
Quality of honesty & trustworthiness.
Exhibition of integrity: strong principles &
taking responsibility
Characteristics of integrity leaders.
Good leaders are honest.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits Explained (8 of 8)
Integrity
Demands being open with others.
Undergirds all aspects of leadership.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (1 of 12)
George Washington (17321799)
Founding father of U.S.A.
Truly respected by everyone.
Man of great integrity.
Leadership in army was instrumental.
Served two times as president.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (2 of 12)
George Washington (17321799): Traits and
Characteristics
Modest man with great moral character.
Brave and tenacious.
Predictable to the American people.
Prudent leader.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (3 of 12)
Winston Churchill (18741965)
Talented prolific writer.
Remained as prime minister until 1945.
Famous for his speeches.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (4 of 12)
Winston Churchill (18741965): Traits and
Characteristics
Remarkable leadership.
Emerged as leader due to uniquely gifts.
Plain speaking and ambitious.
Opposite opinions about him.
Masterful use of language.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (5 of 12)
Mother Teresa (19101997)
Noble Peace Prize in 1979.
The Missionaries of Charity.
Remained actively involved in work.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (6 of 12)
Mother Teresa (19101997): Traits and
Characteristics
Simple and humble woman.
Stayed focused on her goal.
Strong will.
Practiced what she preached.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (7 of 12)
Bill Gates (1955)
Self-made man.
Cofounded Microsoft in 1975.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (8 of 12)
Bill Gates (1955): Traits and
Characteristics
Intelligent and a visionary.
Task oriented and diligent.
Focused and aggressive.
Personal style.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (9 of 12)
Oprah Winfrey (1954)
Powerful and influential.
Honors student.
Oprah Winfrey Show.
Held many roles in media.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (10 of 12)
Oprah Winfrey (1954): Traits and
Characteristics
Excellent communicator.
Intelligent and well read.
Spontaneous and expressive.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (11 of 12)
LeBron James (1984)
Professional basketball player.
Uses his celebrity status cautiously.
Supported numerous programs.
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Leadership Traits in Practice (12 of 12)
LeBron James (1984): Traits and
Characteristics
Physical power.
Consistent and ambitious.
Strong set of principles.
Resilience and charisma.
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Leadership Traits in Practice
What do all of these leaders have in common?
Visionary
Strong-willed
Diligent
Inspirational
Purpose-driven
Role models
Symbols of hope
Author, Title and Edition. © SAGE Publications, 2018.
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Chapter 3: Understanding Leadership Styles
Introduction
Importance of recognizing personal style
of leadership.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Philosophy Explained (1 of 8)
Philosophy of leadership.
Do people like to work or do they try to
avoid it?
McGregors believed managers had two
views of human nature:
Theory X and Theory Y.
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Leadership Philosophy Explained (2 of 8)
Theory X: Assumption 1
People dislike work.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Philosophy Explained (3 of 8)
Theory X: Assumption 2
Need direction and control.
Leaders play significant role.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Philosophy Explained (4 of 8)
Theory X: Assumption 3
Want security, not responsibility.
Followers need leaders.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Philosophy Explained (5 of 8)
Theory Y: Assumption 1
People like work.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Philosophy Explained (6 of 8)
Theory Y: Assumption 2
People are self-motivated.
The commitment factor.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Philosophy Explained (7 of 8)
Theory Y: Assumption 3
Accept and seek responsibility.
Capacity for self-directed activities.
Independent and productive.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Philosophy Explained (8 of 8)
Theory Y leader views followers as
capable and interested in working.
Theory Z: Emphasizes common cultural
values.
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Leadership Styles Explained (1 of 5)
Behaviors of leaders.
Three styles identified:
Authoritarian
Democratic
Laissez-faire
Study by Lewin and colleagues.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Styles Explained (2 of 5)
Authoritarian Leadership Style
Characteristics of authoritarian leaders,
like Theory X, view followers as needing
direction.
Generally has negative outcomes.
Outcomes can sometimes be positive.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Discuss
When do you prefer authoritarian
leadership as a group member and why?
How often do you use this style of
leadership?
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Styles Explained (3 of 5)
Democratic Leadership Style
Guides rather than directs.
Speak on same level, egalitarian.
Promote communication.
Objective feedback.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Styles Explained (4 of 5)
Democratic Leadership Style
Positive outcomes:
Greater group member satisfaction
Friendliness and mutual praise
Stronger worker motivation & originality
Downside:
Time and effort
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Leadership Styles Explained (5 of 5)
Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
Do not try to control followers.
Nonleadership.
Nominal leader with minimal influence.
Laid back.
Mainly negative outcomes.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Summary
All of us have a philosophy of leadership
based on our assumptions.
Three styles of leadership: authoritarian,
democratic, laissez-faire.
Understanding how our philosophy of
leadership influences our style of
leadership helps us become more
competent leaders.
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 5e. © SAGE Publications, 2020.
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Traumatology
2014, Vol. 20, No. 4, 296 301
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0099835
© 2014 American Psychological Association
1085-9373/14/$12.00
Supervision for Trauma-Informed Practice
Roni Berger and Laura Quiros
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Adelphi University
To become trauma-informed, a system of care must demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of
trauma and recognition of it as both interpersonal and sociopolitical. Although awareness of the need to
enhance systems of care to become trauma-informed has been growing in recent years, even when trauma
is not the main focus of service, training of all professional, administrative, and secretarial staff is
essential to transform an agency to become trauma-informed. One vehicle for training the professional
staff is supervision designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of practitioners who provide services
to clients who have experience trauma. This article discusses how the principles and strategies of
supervision can be adapted and applied to foster the professional and personal growth of practitioners and
enhance their mastery of trauma-informed care. Supervision of trauma-informed care shares with other
types of supervision the major components of educational, support, and administrative guidance and
oversight. However, because constant interaction with traumatized clients may have negative effects on
practitioners, some elements of trauma-informed practice supervision require special attention. The
article has 3 parts. First, we discuss the goals, nature, and educational, supportive, and administrative
functions of supervision in the healing professions. We then review basic assumptions of traumainformed practice, specifically, safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment. Third,
we identify personal and agency-related challenges and risks to practitioners in learning and executing
trauma work and analyze the protective function of supervision in addressing these challenges. We
present principles for effective supervision that enhance the ability of practitioners to provide traumainformed services and decrease their risks for vicarious traumatization (i.e., trauma reactions caused by
interaction with those directly exposed to traumatic events). Finally, we describe an illustrative case
example and suggest directions for future research.
Keywords: trauma-informed practice, supervision, mental health, healing professions, vicarious
traumatization
program staff is essential if employees are expected to begin
to conceptualize the range of possible responses by their clients to
activating stimuli (p. 495). Others (Quiros & Berger, 2013) have
offered a definition that includes the sociopolitical complexity of
trauma, an aspect that broadens the scope of trauma practice. This
complexity includes awareness of the intersectionality of race,
class, and gender, and underscores that consideration of such is
essential for the creation of systems of care that are truly traumainformed. Finally, a system of care that is trauma-informed is
aligned with the mission of social justice, in that structural and
environmental conditions are considered when assessing trauma,
and therefore failure to effectively adopt trauma-informed care as
an integral aspect of the culture and practice of the serviceproviding setting may potentially put service programs out of
synch with professional commitment to social justice of social
workers, counselors, psychologists, and other helping practitioners.
Diverse vehicles serve to bring about the relevant transformation of systems of care, including lectures, seminars, training, and
group and individual supervision. For our purposes, we have
focused on supervision as a crucial means in helping program staff
comprehend and work with the complexity of trauma and its after
effects.
Supervision has traditionally been considered a central component of professional practice (Joubert, Hocking, & Hampson,
2013) and as the method of choice for helping novice in healing
Awareness of the need to enhance systems of care to become
more trauma-informed, even when trauma is not the main focus of
service, has been growing in recent years (Quiros & Berger, 2013).
A critical condition for developing a trauma-informed system of
care (i.e., agencies and other care providing setting) is that all staff
members, including professionals, secretaries, and administrators,
have a comprehensive understanding of the effects and complexity
of trauma, its potential behavioral manifestations, and principles
for addressing the needs of traumatized clients (Jennings, 2004).
Thus, training is essential in the process of transforming an agency
to become trauma-informed.
To become trauma-informed, a system of care must demonstrate
understanding and recognition of trauma as both interpersonal and
sociopolitical. Efforts to articulate the meaning of traumainformedness on a direct practice level vary in their breadth and
focus. For example, Levers, Ventura, and Bledsoe (2012) have
stated that Providing adequate information about the pervasiveness of the psychological and neurological effects of trauma to
This article was published Online First June 16, 2014.
Roni Berger and Laura Quiros, School of Social Work, Adelphi University.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Roni
Berger, School of Social Work, Adelphi University, One South Avenue,
Garden City, NY 11530. E-mail: berger@adelphi.edu
296
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This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
SUPERVISION FOR TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICE
professions acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for effective and high level professional performance (Kadushin & Harkness, 2002; Shulman, 2010). While no systematic evidence to
support it could be identified, anecdotal reports from students and
supervisors suggests that in recent years, driven by pressure from
managed care, as many agencies are struggling to minimize time
allocated to activities that do not generate revenues, supervision
has been compromised and became to be seen as a luxury rather
than a necessity for maintaining high standards of service.
The current article discusses how the principles and strategies of
supervision can be adapted and applied to foster the professional
and personal growth of supervisees and enhance their mastery of
trauma informed practice. To this end the article includes three
parts. First, supervision in the helping professions is discussed;
second, challenges and issues relative to trauma informed practice
are reviewed; finally, strategies for the use of supervision to
enhance the competence of practitioners in providing trauma informed services are discussed and illustrated by means of a case
example.
Supervision in Helping Professions
Supervision has long been used in healing disciplines as a main
channel through which knowledge, values, and skills are transmitted from experienced practitioners to students and beginning practitioners (Kadushin & Harkness, 2002; Shulman, 2010). Ideally,
supervision is a reflective process that provides a physical and
emotional safe space and opportunity to examine the clinical work
of the practitioner with the goals to enhance personal and professional growth, shape competence, and promote a high level of
services (Bledsoe, 2012; C. S. Cohen, 2004). To this end, supervision offers practitioners the chance to debrief and explore alternative perspectives and to reach a conclusion on the best line of
action in particular client situations (Joubert et al., 2013). Parallel
to practice, to allow such debriefing and exploration, the supervisory relationship must become a safe space where supervisees feel
they can freely speak their minds and do so in a trusting environment (Miller, 2001). Typically, the supervisor, who is a senior
professional, guides, offers feedback, models, oversees, coaches,
and evaluates the process through which the less experienced or
novice practitioner acquires the necessary knowledge and skills
and evaluates the latters performance within a physically and
emotionally safe space where ethical and professional boundaries
are maintained (Quiros, Kay, & Montijo, 2013).
The importance of supervision as a way to enhance practitioners expertise has been recognized by licensing bodies such as the
National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the American
Mental Health Counselors Association (2010), and the American
Psychological Association (2010), which require supervision to be
routinely available for practitioners. For example, social workers
are expected to be routinely supervised during the first 5 years of
their professional experience and on an as-needed, selfdetermined basis afterward (NASW Standards, 2008); similar
expectations exist in other human service professions. Supervisions crucial role in enhancing practitioners ability to reflect
critically, learn, and evaluate their levels of stress has been supported by research (Joubert et al., 2013).
The supervisory role includes three types of functions educational, supportive, and administrative. The educational function
297
focuses on teaching the supervisee about relevant population
groups (e.g., children with special needs and their families, cancer
patients), challenges typical of the specific setting and context
(e.g., hospital, school, mental health clinic), models of practice and
strategies for intervention (e.g., solution focused, cognitive
behavioral), and the linking to theoretical frameworks. The supportive aspect of supervision refers to the provision of emotional
support to help the supervisee cope with work-related challenges
and stresses, identify personal issues that may impede the ability to
provide effective services to clients and offer strategies for addressing them. The administrative function includes advising the
supervisee about agencys policies and monitoring her or his
adherence to them, delegating assignments, and evaluating practitioners performance (Hopkins & Austin, 2004; Kadushin & Harkness, 2002; Shulman, 2010).
Effective supervision to enhance mastery of practitioners is
provided either individually or in group and is informed by diverse
models. For example, Kitchiner, Phillips, Roberts, and Bisson
(2007) used a brief training supervision with a group of mental
health professionals in trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy as a strategy to overcome the scarcity of well prepared trauma
informed practitioners. Evaluations demonstrated a significant decrease in trauma related symptoms in clients served by the trainees
supporting the potential of a group clinical supervision model to
offer a cost-effective strategy for preparing service providers for
trauma-informed practice.
Trauma-Informed Practice
Trauma-informed practice has both individual and organizational aspects. Its basic assumptions are safety, trustworthiness,
choice, collaboration, and empowerment (Quiros & Berger, 2013;
Harris & Fallot, 2001). As noted throughout the trauma literature,
physical and emotional safety are the foundation for all therapeutic
work (Najavits, 2002). This means creating a physical environment that generates a sense of safety including the minutest details,
such as type of furniture and the office location. The environment
must not only be safe but also feel safe. Achieving safety requires
providing adequate information about the pervasiveness of the psychological and neurological effects of trauma, and about the extent to
which practices and settings ensure and reinforce the physical and
emotional safety of consumers.
According to Harris & Fallot (2001), trustworthiness, that is,
maintaining clear and appropriate boundaries, honoring confidentiality policies, clarity, consistency, and predictability are keys to
creating a trauma-informed system of care. On a direct practice
level, contracting with clients around issues of confidentiality in
the beginning of individual or group sessions is one way of
creating trustworthiness. However, appropriate boundaries, clarity,
and consistency vary by culture; thus gestures, language, and
actions that promote trustworthiness in one culture may achieve
the opposite reaction in another. Hence, it is important that the
agency provide training in cultural awareness, and use individuals
who are informed about the norms of clients culture of origin to
advise on the type of conditions that enhance trustworthiness in
that particular culture.
A trauma-informed environment also values choice, that is,
consumers are to have some control over and independence of
preference relative to their recovery and be offered an array of
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298
BERGER AND QUIROS
services. For example, in one residential substance abuse treatment
facility, group members participating in a 12-week group cycle
were given a choice about the order of topics. The degree to which
the availability of choice is helpful depends on the specific individual and circumstances. For some, especially women from traditionally male-dominant cultural backgrounds, the need to make
choices may become an additional stressor.
The principle of collaboration means sharing of power, allowing
clients to play an active role in their treatment, and having providers acknowledge the expertise that clients bring to the treatment
process. This means building a helping relationship where the
workers knowledge and wisdom are not privileged over those of
the client. Rather, alternative strategies, in which the skills and
knowledge of both the professional and client can be heard, become paramount. Each learns from the others experience and
multiple realities are honored (Daniel & Quiros, 2010).
Finally, Harris & Fallot (2001) has discussed empowerment as
maximizing consumer skill building and allowing clients to be
involved in the planning, operating, and evaluating of services.
This can take the form of providing clients with resources, building
on their strengths, and engaging them in interventions that ensure
their voices are heard and taken seriously. For example, including
clients in the process of deciding group topics, having clients name
their experiences instead of subjecting them to naming that is
controlled by an institution, testimony to the trauma (to the degree
that proving this testimony does not put the client in a position of
feeling shame and guilt, e.g., for being raped and thus no longer
pure), and moving beyond the diagnosis to name their experiences.
For instance, Kacen (2002) invited battered women to title their
life story, thus making them active participants in constructing the
realities of their life affected by traumatic exposure. In a similar
fashion, Craine Bertch (2012), who conducted a qualitative study
of recurrent episodes of homelessness in single mothers, involved
interviewees as coresearchers in analyzing their own narratives.
Ultimately, the helping relationship fosters a partnership among
the women seeking services and the service providers.
Principles of Supervision for Trauma-Informed
Practice
Specific challenges and risks to practitioners in learning and
executing trauma work (or trauma-informed practice) may include
personal attitudes and resistance as well as agency mission and
absence of appropriate policies and resources. With a few exceptions (Ben-Porat & Itzhaky, 2011; Kassam-Adams, 1995; Wood,
2011), theoretical and empirical literature has argued that supervision is a critical strategy in helping practitioners to address such
challenges and to prevent, mitigate, and heal vicarious trauma
(Bell, Kulkarni, & Dalton, 2003; M. Cohen & Gagin, 2005; Pulido,
2007; Sexton, 1999). Ongoing supervision has been recognized as
a major protective factor because it can serve as a buffer against
vicarious trauma, that is, trauma reactions triggered in clinicians as
a result of working with traumatized clients (Yassen, 1995), which
suggests that in trauma practice supervision should be mandatory
rather than on an as-needed basis. Trauma-informed supervision
combines knowledge about trauma and supervision, and focuses
on the characteristics of the interre
