Following the toxic stress and trauma of the past year, the importance of trauma responsive leadership/supervision has become crucial in supporting and gently guiding staff towards flexibility and resilience. Learners are asked to…

• Define the goals of their leadership/supervisory practice.
• Analyze their current practice to identify how they are currently balancing the administrative/business activities with relational, trauma-responsive support and guidance within the agency.
• Explore ways in which leadership and supervisors can promote an environment of continuous growth and learning.
• Choose a theoretical framework that supports their approach to trauma responsive leadership/supervision.
• Describe the parallel process and its ultimate impact on the people receiving services.
• Explore methods for providing difficult feedback to those they supervise.

TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE PRINCIPLES WORKSHEET (20 minutes)

This resource reviews the Core Values of Trauma-Informed Care – Safety, Trustworthiness, Collaboration, Choice, and Restore Value – and asks learners to reflect on how the Trauma Informed Care Principles are demonstrated at their workplace.

APPLYING TRAUMA-INFORMED PRINCIPLES WHEN CONDUCTING PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS (10 minutes)

Using trauma-informed principles when conducting performance appraisals can alleviate some of the stress while fostering a professional relationship between supervisors and employees. This resource provides advisement on key strategies such as explaining the scope of the performance appraisal ahead of time, moving away from directing to collaboration, communicating non-negotiables for job performance, as well as suggesting questions the supervisor can ask during the appraisal process.

BEST PRACTICES IN CLINICAL SUPERVISION (15 minutes)

Clinical Supervision is critical for professional development, yet it can be difficult to discern best practices. Across guidelines from the American Psychological Association’s (APA, 2014) Guidelines for Clinical Supervision in Health Service Psychology, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision’s (ACES, 2011, Borders et al., 2014) Best Practices in Clinical Supervision, and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2013) Best Practice Standards in Social Work Supervision, this resource identifies 17 commonly recommended Best Practices in Clinical Supervision.

HIRING FOR MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING (MI) & TRAUMA RESPONSIVENESS (10 minutes)

This resource includes four strategies that ensure newly hired individuals can successfully apply Trauma Informed Principles and Motivational Interviewing techniques in their job roles. These range from involving interviewers from a variety of backgrounds and using behavioral interviewing to asking about the applicant’s knowledge of MI, ACE’s, trauma and toxic stress. Sample questions are provided.