Today, I'm feeling good. Wouldn't you know, maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophecy and I have convinced myself to become bipolar. Just kidding- I'm not ready to take over the world, but just comfortable. I won't judge it as good, but simply comfortable with where I am. It took some work and combat. I am channeling Pema's warrior Buddha. Which is basically being friendly to yourself in all of your strengths and weaknesses. It is not lying to yourself with affirmations like, “I rock all the time”. But it's being friendly towards your fears and anxieties. I like her metaphor to training a dog. If you yell at the dog and hit it, it will do what you say, but it will be inflexible and neurotic (fearful). Whereas if you discipline the dog without judgment, it will be easier for it to remain steadfast with itself and be flexible with uncertainty. In other words, “Pot!” which is Pema's suggestion to remind oneself that you are thinking. Not a judgment, but just a reminder. I'm working on it. I think this is hysterical that a yoga teacher yelled “POT!” in class. It seems like a drug reference, but really it's just a friendly reminder to be present and notice your thoughts drift.
I like the idea of accepting oneself for who we are. I am someone who is always hard on myself. Why? I work hard, I achieve, I do things most people couldn't do and I am privileged. I have enough, I am lucky enough to find out where I'm going next. I have good friendships, good relationships, am lucky in comparison to most. I am also brave to take a step back and try to find what's next. Many people don't have this luxury, or this courage. I feel good about it. I have my weaknesses too, as all humans do. I judge and I am not perfect. That's all good.
So, onto some constructive tactics. Let's talk a bit more about the importance of environmental support in preventing burnout. I am going to talk specifically about supervision today because I am feeling strong and I think this is important.
“The Resilient Practitioner” reinforces that in order to successfully stay at an agency, you must create a professional greenhouse. In my mind, this is the safe place, the perfect environment that includes lavender scented air and warm, balmy weather. Unfortunately, the work environment never resembles this, so it's important for us to create it ourselves.
In my case, I tried to bring pictures of far of soothing places, like the Potala Palace in Tibet and modern art paintings, as well as cacti that I stole from the lobby of my building. Yes, I am a social worker, but they had been sitting there for days and I do like “breaking the law”. Not that I'm comparing myself, but there was no one in the office who had pictures up (aside from their mandatory certificate to practice), although some did have pictures of their families and children. Professionally, it is not appropriate to put pics of little Betty and Sean on your desk. What happens when your methed out client Larry comes in picking his face and pissed off because you reported his behavior to his PO and he's getting threatened to be put in jail, and his IQ is just high enough to threaten your kid. This is not a Jewish mother syndrome, this is basic logic. The clinician I'm talking about even brought his children into the office when clients were around and said how he thought maybe it wasn't such a good idea. So then what the hell are you doing? Not my problem. I wouldn't even bring my pet rat into that place!
(Side note: I once had a client who was so meth'd out, that she thought she was at an audition for karoake at an assessment and sang me an amazing rendition of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”-Pat Benatar. She needed to get into inpatient treatment, but told me that she wouldn't go in unless she could bring her pet rat. I kid you not. Her rat was not of pet store variety, but methamphetamine lab variety. They let her rat in).
You can put up a photo of a pretty place, which can be soothing, but you don' t put a picture of your kids when you are working with sex offenders and criminals. This is the sign of someone asking for trouble. This is not a safe thing to do. Agreed? If I were a manager, I would not allow my clinicians to do that. But when your supervisor shows cleavage at work, she models inappropriate behavior, thereby encouraging it to her staff. Sadly, this type of imprudence becomes the norm, “so and so told me he was in recovery, why won't you tell us? Because you're not right?”, it becomes an issue of the one who does not self-disclose as being the “problem child”. The problem child role sucks. Just because my supervisor would come in and announce that she got wasted over the weekend while new clients overheard, did not mean that I had to conform. It is unfortunate how many people would not actually say anything to her about this (except yours truly). But, if you do actively embrace the “problem child” role, you must be prepared to take the consequences which are challenging to your own safe space. So, in my opinion and in ethical practice, these are not rules to abide by when working as a professional helper.
Here are the specific things needed to create a Professional Greenhouse as designated in the Resilient Practitioner.
1.Leadership promoting healthy other care self care balance- If your boss can't even tell you whose responsibility it is to buy a VCR for the group room, how can she promote healthy “self other care balance”? If your boss brings her sick mother into the office in front of a group full of criminals and drug dealers is she modeling healthy boundaries? I give that a big fat no. If your boss doesn't give you a single word of praise for your efforts, even though I know now I was doing a good job, this is not demonstrating that she is a healthy or content person herself.
1.Social Support- so apparently if you are unable to get healthy support from your environment, because it's not always available (DUH)- this is where I come in I think?- you must create it through social support of peers at work. First off, I worked in an office that while it was readily available to clients (they could see me through the window outside) and it was the first place people would stop to ask questions, it was totally and utterly separated from colleagues. I had the secretary close by, but our relationship was one-sided- if I talked to her about clients, she did not really participate, at least on an objective intellectual level. She usually just talked about her instincts about people or whether they “creeped her out”. I was, for the most part, alone in the office. There were occasionally other workers who came through. There were 2 case managers who quit in my time there. One was helpful because she bitched about our supervisor too and perceived her as a conniving bitch who talked shit about us behind our backs. Unfortunately, she ended up quitting because she couldn't handle the dysfunction. In fact, she talked about getting sick all the time and being depressed. While it made me sad, internally I felt somewhat relieved that someone else recognized the toxicity of the place.
3.Receiving care from other mentors- In my opinion, there are three types of mentors because as early clinicians, we are always learning.
A. Supervisors
B. Coworkers
C. Peers in your profession
D. Therapists
I don't want to get on the woe is me kick, but unfortunately, I was unable to receive care from any of the above. Today, I'll focus only on Supervision and it's role.
1.My Supervisor, as it has been repeatedly discussed was there to sabotage my efforts and prove that she was better (or at least appeared so to management). This was demonstrated through undermining efforts, stealing my proposals in front of management three weeks after I made them (and she initially argued about them), telling me about her diet during supervision, leaving me clueless on staff meetings and never doing her job in order to make me look wishy washy in front of clients. How I prove that this was actually abuse versus simple thoughtlessness is difficult, but there was enough evidence I think it makes sense.
My clinical supervisor, who was appointed through the agency didn't know the feeling “bad” from “good”. Everything was flat, she might as well have had schizophrenia. Moreover, she never did her job either. Apparently, she was the leader over our outpatient team, but if there were any issues she never handled them. She would write down notes and never do anything. Then, next meeting she would never follow up with anything and she would forget from one day to the next. She contributed to the blame game and blamed everything on my when I left and pretty much told me I was indecisive because when I quit, they offered me another job but didn't give me anything in writing. Basically, after I told them I needed something in writing, they opened up the job they offered to the rest of the agency and when I asked why, I was indecisive. I just need you to understand that I was indecisive because they wouldn't give me a written or email job offer with salary? I'm so confused. I now understand that this is unbelievably ridiculous, but then it did feel like my fault. POT!
Supervision (PETS) is “quality control in which the supervisor is responsible for monitoring employee performance; 2) personnel development in which the supervisor is responsible for helping practitioners refine their skills and elaborate both their discipline-specific knowledge and their technical competencies; and promoting commitment to the field and position, which, in turn, enhances motivation”. British Journal of Clinical Psychology (2002), 41, 55–72, The observed impact of training on competence in clinical supervision.
So, the purpose of the supervisor is to help a clinician mature and to provide evaluation for an employee. Given that most agencies don't spend the money to make sure that a supervisor is ethically trained in these particular things, it is unlikely that any early trainee is adequately receiving these supports. In fact, the British Journal cited above shows that people do not necessarily receive this type of training and that students are not necessarily satisfied with reflection. They are more satisfied with direct feedback and guidance. These two things are the framework for effective supervision.
Gallacher, K. (1997). Supervision, mentoring, and coaching: Methods for supporting personnel
development. In P. Winton, J. McCollum & C. Catlett (Eds.), Reforming personnel
preparation in early intervention: Issues, models, and practical strategies (pp.191-214).
Baltimore: Brookes.
As mentioned previously in this module, supervision is an evaluative process. It is imperative that the trainee be made aware of the criteria by which he or she will be evaluated. Trainees should know what constitutes the successful mastering of the criteria. They should also be aware of the possible consequences and their rights should the criteria not be met. Evaluation should be an on-going process and the results of any formal evaluation should not come as a "surprise" to the supervisee.
RIGHTS IN SUPERVISION:
1. The supervisee or student should be apprised of the academic requirements and program regulations.
2. The supervisee or student should receive notice of any deficiencies.
3. The supervisee or student should be evaluated regularly.
4.The supervisee or student should have an opportunity to be heard.
First, off, if you (like me) did not receive an evaluation until a year into your employment, that you had to write yourself, this is against rights of a supervisee and should be reported. Learn from my mistake. Please, I urge you to report this to the board- don't even bother going to your employer.
Two, if your supervisor does not follow through getting a tape recorder into the group room (because she's too cheap) and if there is never anyone to witness your group work, get someone in there and refuse to run group anymore until someone comes in. Or buy your own tape recorder and make a contract with your client directly that it's okay for you to record the session. MSW programs do not necessarily provide direct feedback to their students. In my case, they had video cameras in every room, but for some reason they didn't use them in classes. Seriously, this is an ethical dilemma. If NASW expects us to be ethical professionals, but complains about the lack of professionalism, they need to stop endorsing schools that promote classroom therapy and lack of feedback. Lack of feedback is one of the most detrimental things that you can experience. In my case, it raised my anxiety to a nearly unmanageable level and made me have to say “POT” 500 times a day to be present. That's pretty fucked up.
Moreover, your supervisor should have a specific plan to follow – which resembles somewhat of an educational plan. See below:
(Lawrence Shulman, MSW, Ed.D, Alex Gitterman, MSW, PhD. “What to do in Supervision: The Dynamics and Skills of Effective Individual and Group Clinical Supervision”. )
• Contracting skills such as clarifying the group meeting purpose and role of the group supervisor;
• Reaching for feedback from staff to encourage staff “ownership” of the group;
• Dealing with underlying issues related to the authority of the supervisor as it may impact the
development of the team;
• Inter-ethnic issues that may impact group cohesion (for example, a female supervisor with male
supervisees; a white group leader with African-American staff group members; or tension
between front-line workers related to these differences);
• Challenging the illusion of work when staff avoids tough and taboo issues (for example, race,
sexual orientation, death, job threats) and stays at a surface level of discussion;
• Dealing with the “deviant member” of the staff group whose behaviors is experienced by the
supervisor as destructive to group cohesion. Helping the staff group to develop the ability to give
honest and yet still supportive consultation to frontline workers on specific cases;
• Helping staff to learn how to use ideas and suggestions from other staff without becoming
defensive and resistant;
• Individual members who are - quiet all of the time and others who never stop talking;
• Understanding and addressing the common problem of a staff group using “fight” or “flight” when
facing difficulty issues.
These are all things that your clinical supervisor should be willing to address and not continue to avoid. If for any reason, your supervisor is not enforcing these guidelines, or is not following a supervisory manual, they should be reported. They do not receive certification for nothing. If they are out of line with certification and board guidelines, they should be reported as individuals. In my case, I won't get into specifics, but my clinical supervisor (not the one who work the low cut tank and g-strings to work on her 275 lb ass “POT”), never specified any of these things, regardless of my continual bickering and tendency to try and clarify and structure for our supervision. She was aloof and unattached and could have been anywhere instead of present. Last, if you are not receiving adequate supervision through your agency, go elsewhere to seek it.
Supervision is crucial to your education and your personal and professional growth. Bowen Family theory says that “...the most important guiding influence is simply the relationship system itself, with all of its pressure to be included, liked or a “team player”. As goes the system, so goes the self. It can adopt an unthinking cooperative, “group think” attitude. But conversely, it can ...adopt a stance that goes against the group automatically”.
When you are growing up, think about how important your environment is in dictating your thoughts and feelings as an adult. For me, dad used peas to ice his whole body after running at age 50, I use peas to ice down after running. Dad liked old Mercedes, I like old Mercedes, mom likes art and travel, I like art and culture and travel. The saying that we are our parents is not so far off. The way our parents raise us has a great impact on our identities. If your parents reinforce your individuality, you are more likely to be an individual. As an only child, my individualism and independence was always enforced. I traveled around the world by myself at age 20 and was taught to be self-sufficient and unique and open-minded to learn from people.
Being in your first work environment is similar. Your supervisor is a model, like it or not. Not only is she someone that you can look up to and aspire to be like as a newby (needing that idol), but she is someone that you might not want to be like. She could also be somewhere in the middle, which leaves her as someone with “Shades of Grey”. Maybe you don't agree with everything she says, but she provides somewhat of a role model. Now, if your supervisor is an idiot, you notice it and don't want to “grow up” into an idiot professional, so you rebel. Then you become the “problem child” as I previously mentioned. When you are the “problem child” in the family, and someone who is highly idealistic, you are likely to take on the “overfunctioning” role, when others aren't holding up their end of the bargain. You are also likely to be the one who is the “anxious” child because you try to make change, no one responds to it and you try to differentiate yourself from the agency (meaning separate your behavior from theirs and function independently). If you are able to function independently from an agency, this does not just mean rebelling, but being able to hold the status of “rebel” without taking on agency anxiety. As Bowen says, anxiety is catching and transferable in a family unit. Someone has to take on the anxiety of the agency. Bowen also says that it is most important for a leader or supervisor to differentiate so she models this importance of individualism and encourages others to do the same. If she is unwilling to do so, or define herself she is creating a chaotic and highly anxious environment. It is even more difficult if an underdog or someone who is not in a leadership position is trying to differentiate because not only does she have no power, but is more likely to be the “OUTLANDER!”. Can't you just see Children of the Corn with that scary Malachi dude and his scythe?
That's a mellow entry for today, but felt positive. I feel that I was able to talk calmly about some things that were reasonably stressful at my work. Maybe it's my acupuncture treatment. I won't question my sense of peace and boddhichitta today, just be with it for the moment. I'm being friendly to myself like a dolphin today. I take care of my little pet instead of saying, that's a bad pet! I hate that pet! I pet him and I love him and I hug him. Sorry- Tommy Boy reference. I miss Chris Farley.
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