This book presents a narrative approach to creating a supportive environment for health and human service practitioners who work with vulnerable children and their families—one of the most difficult and complex areas of practice.
People working in these environments are routinely exposed to violence and trauma and commonly experience symptoms of traumatic stress as a result. Traditionally, human service and health care service organisations have struggled to support practitioners who experience primary and secondary trauma in either a preventative context or post exposure. Using contemporary trauma theory, this book provides a trauma-informed support and supervision framework for supervisors and managers of practitioners that recognises the uniqueness of the practice field, the diversity of practitioners who undertake the work and the diversity of contexts in which they work.
It will be required reading for all human service and health professionals, including social workers, psychologists and nurses as well as teachers, counsellors and youth workers.
Author(s): Fiona Oates
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 134
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of figures
Preface
Introduction
Introduction
What is child abuse and neglect?
Who works with children who have experienced abuse and neglect?
Importance of recognising broad practice fields
Chapter summary
1 Trauma
Introduction
What is trauma?
What is occupational trauma?
Trauma exposure in child protection work, including the experience of primary trauma
Primary trauma
Trauma symptomology experienced by child protection practitioners
Secondary and vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout in child protection work
Secondary and vicarious trauma
Compassion fatigue and burnout
Burnout
Other sources of trauma relevant to child protection practitioners and barriers to seeking assistance
Racism as trauma: considerations for First Nations practitioners
Impacts of occupational trauma on practitioners, organisations and service delivery
Impact on the practitioner
Impact on client service delivery
Impact on the organisation
The treatment of trauma
Dosage-response relationship
The resilience myth
What is ‘trauma informed’ as a general concept?
Chapter summary
Reflective questions for practice
2 Supervision
What is supervision?
Balancing the elements
Supervision in a child welfare occupational context
Internal supervision
External supervision
Considerations for First Nations practitioners
The use of supervision across non-traditional practice settings
Barriers to receiving effective supervision in child protection
Organisational culture
Organisational resourcing
Practitioner perception
The supervisor and the supervisory relationship
Threats to a successful supervisory relationship
Trauma informed supervision
Working with practitioners who have a history of trauma
Chapter summary
Reflective questions for practice
3 Managers and organisations
Introduction
The role of supervisors and managers in a child welfare context
The role in a multi-disciplinary context
Support for line supervisors and managers
Training and mentoring for line supervisors and managers
Line supervisor and manager experience of occupational trauma, including stressors
Re-thinking the role of the supervisor
The supervisory relationship from the perspective of the supervisor
Dilemmas in supervision: supervision or therapy?
Managing practitioners with a lived experience of trauma
Practitioner’s lived experience as an asset
Line supervision and management within a child welfare organisational context: the rise of managerialism
Management and leadership in a child welfare organisational context
Trauma informed and responsive leadership
Secure base leadership
Chapter summary
Reflective practice questions
4 The TISS model
Introduction: what is the TISS model?
Principles underpinning the TISS model
Central acknowledgements inherent within the TISS model
Core pillars of the TISS model
The TISS framework
Using the TISS model to create TISS teams
Benefits of implementing a TISS team model
Roles within a practitioner support team
Creating a TISS plan with practitioners
Preventative and mitigation factors in TISS plans
Protective factor: job satisfaction
Practical application of the job satisfaction element in workgroups
Protective factor: supervisory relationship
Creating a TISS team around those with line management responsibilities
Supporting documents
Chapter summary
Reflective questions for practice
Appendices
Appendix 1.1 TISS preparation worksheet
Appendix 1.2 TISS team agreement
Appendix 1.3 TISS plan
Index
