DOMAIN 4: SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS–INFORMED SUPERVISION
Item 15
To what extent do supervisors use active listening skills to help understand and validate staff members’ experiences?
Strategies for Supervisors:
- Active or reflective listening is a communication strategy that involves seeking to understand the speaker’s true message (attending to words, tone of voice, body language, etc.) and then offering the understood message back to the speaker to confirm that the message has been understood correctly.
- Reflective listening also attends to the feelings being communicated by the speaker and helps them process their thoughts and feelings in response to their work with clients.
- Utilize these active listening prompts:
- I hear you saying …. does that capture what you meant?
- I notice that you seem sad when you talk about this. Is that how you are feeling?
- Utilize these questions to promote reflection among staff:
- How did you feel? What did you notice in yourself?
- Did you have any strong reactions during this interaction?
- How do you think [other person in interaction] was feeling? What was their perspective?
- What did you think was going to happen? Why do you think it did or didn’t go as planned?
- What do you think was driving your reaction?
- Are there aspects of the interaction that remind you of your own experiences or history? How might this have influenced you?
Implementation Resources:
Publications
- “Reflective Supervision Guidelines,” from the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health, discuss reflective supervision and its primary objectives and how it can be beneficial for those who are exposed to trauma.
Select Action Plan to begin to organize and implement next steps.