Critical Supervision for the Human Services

A key text introducing critical supervision as a new model for the helping professions, covering theory and practice

A comprehensive overview of supervision in the helping professions, bringing together contemporary theory, practice and research. It is unique in addressing cross-disciplinary and interprofessional issues and linking theoretical discussions with practical examples and exercises.

Practitioners in the helping professions today operate in challenging settings where budgets have been cut dramatically, and progression and success are too often defined primarily by key performance indicators and strategic outcomes. Tensions arise when such pressures conflict with helping professionals' core responsibilities to provide excellent care, advocate for patients or service users and to seek social justice.

This book introduces a critical model for supervision which addresses not only the human relationships and interactions involved in work, but also the financial, political and managerial environment in which the work is carried out. It identifies how reflective practice alone is not enough to bring about transformational change, and outlines how practitioners can learn in and through supervision, drawing on ideas from critical pedagogy and organisational learning. Practice examples are included to demonstrate the use of this approach within contemporary human service environments.

Providing a new approach for effective supervision, this book will be of interest to practitioners, managers, researchers, academics and students working across the human services, including health care, social services and criminal justice.