Group and Peer Supervision

Online Workshop: 2 half-days 24 & 25 September 2024, 9.00am – 1.00pm presented by Fiona Howard

This event will be recorded for those who are registered but can't make it on the day. However, this is an interactive workshop and you should aim to attend the live session.

The workshop is suitable for those wanting to establish a group format for supervision whether that be a peer-group, with no primary facilitator, or a supervisor-facilitated group. Participants may attend individually or as a group that is already established. The workshop will help participants define or refine its purpose, structure, roles and agreement and further elaborate on how to effectively work together, maintaining clarity and avoiding the usual pitfalls of an inadequate set-up. Exercises will be structured to provide the opportunity for participants to work through the content as if they were setting up a group together. Attendees are therefore expected to have the knowledge, skills and awareness to participate effectively in a group by the end of the workshop.

Content:

• challenges and benefits of group supervision
• the various structures and classifications of group supervision - from peer-groups (shared leadership) to primarily supervisor-facilitated (sole leadership)
• roles of group members
• theories of group dynamics and developmental stages
• the group supervision contract
• skills for being an effective group supervisor

Format: The workshop will involve mixed teaching methods, including informational presentation, large group discussion, small group exercises and practice.

Materials: PowerPoint slides, handouts and references.

Fiona Howard 

Fiona Howard is a Clinical Psychologist who works privately, primarily offering supervision, training, and therapy, as well as workshop facilitation for Umbrella Wellbeing Ltd. Previously, she worked at the University of Auckland in the Doctoral Programme of Clinical Psychology. Her key areas of expertise and interest include professional supervision, adult mental health, addictions, positive psychology, self-care and wellbeing, resilience building and leadership for health professionals. She has provided supervision workshops to a variety of professionals in several organisations for over twenty years and taught on the post-graduate professional supervision programme at the University of Auckland. In addition, Fiona has presented at local and international conferences, written articles and chapters and conducted research in the field of supervision. Through her career Fiona has developed a strong interest in the wellbeing and resilience of the health professional and is a firm believer in the need for greater attention to the needs of practitioners by organisations and teams within which they work as well as by practitioners themselves. Fiona believes a central way to maintain wellbeing is through growth-fostering relationships such as supervision, where we can optimise our professional competence, work satisfaction and ongoing sustainability.