Supervision

One of the weaknesses of my field placement has been the lack of supervision when I facilitate groups.  Altough I speak with my supervisor and other staff about what occurred in the group, they do not directly supervise my work and my conversations with them center around client issues, not my own.  Because of this situation, I entreat clients to provide honest feedback for groups.  I feel that since I try to present as a non-confrontational, accepting staff member, clients are more likely to be comfortable providing feedback to me.  

Sadly, the only feedback I've received has been positive.  I realize that sentence is paradoxical, but only through evaluating my mistakes can I grow as a clinician.  To compensate for the lack of negative feedback, I have, according to my field supervisor (not attached to the agency), developed a greater sense of self-awareness in practice which has grown through the year.  I relished this feedback.  

The group I led today was on Step One.  First, I had the clients apply the reading to their own experience, prompting them with a general query, "does anyone have anything to share about thre reading."  While sharing, a client broke down in tears because he identified greatly with the material in the reading regarding unmanagability of his life.  I brough his awareness to the present and validated him for sharing with the group.  After everyone had shared, I built off of a client's comments and posed the open question to the group, "What are some positive coping mechanisms you have used?"  The clients all started speaking at once, which I stopped to regain decorum.  Once some clients had shared, I asked a more difficult question on how to choose between positive and negative coping strategies and emphasized that just knowing that there is a choice is an important step.  

The reason I mention supervision is the feedback I received after closing my group today on Step One.  The clients made it a point to thank me for running a great group, which I found difficult to handle.  I simply replied that they did all of the talking, I just asked a few questions.  Also, the monitor present in the client room was so impressed she called down to my task supervisor to inform her of what a great job I did with the group.  This positive feedback bolsters my self-efficacy and makes me more secure in asking questions or making observations in the group.