DOMAIN 4: SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS–INFORMED SUPERVISION
Item 23
To what extent do supervisors promote compassion satisfaction by helping staff members recognize successes and the positive impact of their work?
Strategies for Supervisors:
- Support acceptance of the complexity of the work and the things that cannot be changed. Questions that can help support acceptance include:
- What can you do within the scope of your role?
- What can we do together to respond to this complex situation?
- What are some of the factors that are beyond your control?
- What can you do or say to yourself to cope with factors that are beyond your control?
- Help staff members recognize partial successes, their professional growth, and their increased skill levels. Questions that can help recognize successes and growth include:
- What are the gains that have been made?
- Can you tell me one thing that is going well with this family or situation?
- What is something you learned from this situation?
- What is something you have done that has made a positive difference for this child and family?
- What about this child or family inspires you?
- Engage staff members in creating a practice of noticing, acknowledging, and savoring positive moments within their role and the impact of their work. Questions that can help create a practice of savoring positive moments and impact include:
- What was the best part of my day today, and who or what made it the best part?
- What did this teach me?
- What am I most proud of today?
- Where do I find meaning and purpose in my work?
- Reinforce the benefits of engaging in restorative activities at work and off-hours through the following:
- Integrating relaxation and mindfulness activities into group and individual supervision/meetings
- Role-modelling and encouraging self-care during and after work
- Taking breaks
- Walking with a partner
- Encouraging moments of laughter and gratitude
- Using mindfulness, relaxation, stretching, and/or physical exercises
- Sharing favorite hobbies
- Helping team members create a wellness plan (see Item 21 for questions to ask when creating the plan)
Implementation Resources:
Activities
- Activities to enhance compassion satisfaction from the What About You? workbook, from the National Center on Family Homelessness.
- Activity 3.6, “Dwelling on the Days That Make You Want to Come Back,” p. 44. This writing activity can be done during a staff meeting or retreat. It asks workers to write down what they love about their job, to reflect on the people whose lives they have touched, why they took their current job, and the compliments that they have received. Leaders and supervisors can also regularly ask staff these kinds of questions to help them focus on the rewards of their work and the difference they are making.
- Activity 3.7, “Personal Mission Statement,” p. 45. This activity asks staff members to think and write about why they do this work and why they got into this work and then to develop a personal mission statement. This can be done in a staff meeting or retreat or in individual supervision.
Select Action Plan to begin to organize and implement next steps.