‘Applying the Therapeutic Function of Professional Supervision: Attending to the emotional impacts of human service work’ by Nicki Weld (2023)
Summary: Nicki Weld bravely names a crucial space in professional supervision. This humble and gentle text clarifies confusion, is grounded in experience, and has arrived at at time when this is needed the most.
I really need to read. It’s good for my soul, it’s a self-care practice and helps me stay balanced. I find reading deeply therapeutic. However in recent years, I’ve noticed my annual reading lists have been shrinking. This year I’ve made a concerted effort to change this. So, when I had a trip to New York city for five nights, I took four books. Seems ambitious, but remember the direct flight from Auckland to JFK takes 17 hours! I only read two, and the one this book review is about, is the one that lingered the most.
Nicki Weld’s latest offering about supervision was my first pick. It feels accessible, interesting, and I like prioritising local authors. It’s a must-read for supervisors working in our current context. Early on, Nicki asserts, “the emotional impacts of human service work in our current global environment have elevated the need for supervision to provide an intentional therapeutic function” (Weld, 2023, p7).
So the familiar restorative/supportive function of supervision is finally expanded to include an overt therapeutic intent, and just in time for the world we’re finding ourselves in. Throughout the 20-something years I’ve been working with people in supervision, and facilitating training about how to offer supervision and/or engage in it, questions seeking distinctions between supervision and therapy are common. Nicki presents an overdue resource for these conversations, claiming a space we can confidently sit within.
I was pleased to see references to mātauranga and whakaaro from tangata whenua about supervision and kaitiakitanga. I recognise it’s a challenge to adequately describe the depth of metaphor and wisdom inherent in such mātauranga for international audiences, and I do hope that tauiwi readers don’t take the kaupapa tokenistically at surface levels, rather entering the doors Nicki opens, and exploring more with Māori practitioners. Appreciation, not appropriation.
After I returned from New York, I had a bunch of supervision appointments stacked up because my trip has disrupted our usual rhythms. I had eight appointments in one day starting at 7am, which is more than I’d usually schedule. The ideas in this book formed a conscience in the back of my head throughout that day. I was challenged about the congruence of supporting others therapeutically whilst operating from a tired and depleted tank. I thought more about my use of self-disclosure, asking myself before I opened my mouth if this might be for my benefit or theirs. I listened to hurt and harm, and invited contemplation about courage, grit and resilience. I witnessed the therapeutic function in action, and I realised it had an energizing impact on me too. As Nicki says on page 132, “it is in relationship with others that we learn the most about ourselves…..Human service work brings us into close contact with the pain and suffering of other people and our own. In choosing this work we must be committed to critical analysis of who we are and reflective supervision that increases our consciousness.”
Essentially, this book has indeed been therapeutic for me on numerous levels. I’m grateful for Nicki’s ability to present complex concepts in digestible formats, alongside stories from her practice experience, bringing the extended therapeutic function to life in the most appropriate way. This book is a must-have for all supervisors in Aotearoa, and it’d be really handy for organisational bookshelves too.
Let us know if you’d like to read more book reviews in this blog! I have a handful of other new books about supervision and would love an additional excuse to read them soon.
Rod
Ref: Weld, N. (2023). Applying the therapeutic function of professional supervision: Attending to the emotional impacts of human service work. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
