Frontiers Friday #32. Coaching in Clinical Supervision (Part III)
Frontiers of Psychotherapist Development
Frontiers Friday #32. Coaching in Clinical Supervision (Part III)
If you missed last 2 newsletters on the current literature on clinical supervision, click the following:
And if you want to keep a pdf copy of the VISUAL GUIDE TO REIGNITING CLINICAL SUPERVISION, click here to download.
From My Desk: Frontiers on Clinical Supervision
There's an archive of stuff that I've written on this topic. Click here to go through themes related to clinical supervision.
Here are some samples:
Do Not Seek Out A Supervisor
Beyond “Case-By-Case” Clinical Supervision
Which Way to Go?
How Do You Grow as a Clinical Supervisor?
The Skills of a Supervisor Is Not the Same as a Therapist
Listen: Interview with John Wooden
Listen to the legendary John Wooden in person. This two-part interview series that Tony Robbins did with Coach Wooden more than 20 years ago.
Key Grafs:
- A good coach is someone we can give guidance without causing resentment.
- You're not defined by a moment but by your consistency.
- Progress goes up very slowly, but do get worse goes very quickly downwards.
- The leader must be concerned with finding the best way, not his own way.
- Real success comes from the things that can’t be taken away from you.
Research: John Wooden's Coaching Practices
Based on a paper of titled What a Coach Can Teach a Teacher, 1975-2004: Reflections and Reanalysis of John Wooden’s Teaching Practices by Ronald Gallimore and Roland Tharp 2004, the authors found that slightly less than 7% of his time was spent dispensing compliments or disapproval.
Meanwhile, 75% percent was comprised of “discrete acts of teaching . . . pure information: what to do, how to do it, [and] when to intensify an activity.
Based on my read of Wooden's teaching practices, one of his most under-rated skills is his dedication towards keeping organised and structure for helping each of the team players move towards their growth edge. In one interview I heard, Wooden took notes of practice drill for each player on 3 x 5 cards, and would review them each year and plan how time is spent in training.
Interestingly, one of the things I've noted from therapists around the world is many report feeling a lack of individualised learning objectives being developed for them in clinical supervision. In part, it's because we generally stick to a "case-by-base" level (mostly "stuck" cases), and fail to develop the clear growth edges that can help yield better outcomes in the therapist caseload.
Read: You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned
It's no secret by now that I'm a huge fan of John Wooden. That's because there's so much wisdom to graft from someone like him.
Words Worth Contemplating:
"They won't care how much you know until they know how much you care."
~John Wooden, You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned, p. 9
Reflection:
Take a moment and consider the proportion of compliments vs discrete acts of teaching and guidance in your clinical supervision experience (as a supervisee and as a supervisor if you are one).
Is your experience like Wooden's pedagogical approach (see point #3), or the opposite?
Check out the course Reigniting Clinical Supervision.
If you want more musings, my other blog is Full Circles: Reflections on Living