Using stories in supervision to facilitate counselor development

Factors supporting retention of aboriginal health and wellbeing staff in Aboriginal health services: a comprehensive review of the literature

“…Aboriginal staff also had significantly lower levels of mental health and well-being, and greater work/family imbalance, contributing to emotional exhaustion.Professional development; RecognitionRussell 2017 [46]Quantitative: Correlations of turnover and retention in remote Northern Territory communities.High mean annual turnover rates for nurses and Allied Health professionals. Low stability rates: only 20% remain working 12 months after commencing; half left within four months.RecognitionRussell 2013 [41]Mixed methods: Propose benchmarks for reasonable length of stay within a workplace.Workforce-retention benchmarks that differ according to geographic location and profession can be empirically derived, facilitating opportunities to improve retention.SupervisionScerra 2012 [21]Literature review: Identify supervision aspects that have been successfully used with Aboriginal staff and can be widely adapted to suit Aboriginal staff in Australia.Significant supervision factors include: 1) development of cultural competency; 2) creation of relevant reflective spaces; 3) support the building of culturally inclusive supervision environments and to adapt supervision sessions to meet different professional and cultural needs.Cultural safety; Supervision; RecognitionSutton 2011 [36]Qualitative: Identify approaches and solutions to the challenges of mental health workforce recruitment, retention and training.Solutions included: increased staffing, collaboration/cross-sectoral linkages, flexible funding, a contemporary curriculum, strong leadership, organisational culture, meeting individual and community needs, and adopting models of care.Teamwork and collaborationWard 2006 [42]Literature review: Identify how stories can help staff make meaning of experience on a personal level during clinical supervision.Use of stories in clinical supervision is well substantiated as a heuristic device, however, more research is needed to carefully explore this approach.SupervisionWeymouth 2007 [35]Mixed methods: Gain a better understanding of the effects of distance management on the retention of rural nurses in the Northern Territory, Western and South Australia.Poor distance management may contribute to high staff turnover in remote Australia. Retention may increase with better managerial practices, effective communication and leadership, staffing, staff development, and appraisal.Teamwork and collaboration; SupervisionWoodruff 2010 [47]Mixed methods: To train community health advisors to conduct smoking cessation programs in Latino communities.There were changes in the desired direction pre-to-post training for most of the psychosocial constructs measured.…”

“…Scerra [21](p. 81) stated “due to the tradition of oral knowledge the use of narrative supervision may be culturally appropriate for Aboriginal staff”. Ward and Sommer [42] explored narrative supervision, where staff members received professional and personal development support by employing the techniques used by the lead character in the story to overcome workplace obstacles. Peer supervision allowed Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing staff to receive guidance from others in similar roles, who referred back to their own workplace experiences and/or challenges [21].…”

Metaphoric Stories in Supervision of Internship: A Qualitative Study

“…The constructs mentioned in the IDM (motivation, autonomy, and self-and other awareness) were used as points of departure in choosing stories. We offer abbreviated versions of the selected stories here as a reference point; more detail may be found in Ward and Sommer (2006). "The Ugly Duckling" by Andersen (1959) is a story with themes related to motivation.…”

Multicultural Connections: Using Stories to Transcend Cultural Boundaries in Supervision

“…London and Tarragona (2007) noted that "both therapy and supervision are language-or meaning-generating systems in which participants attempt to make sense of their and each other's experiences and may create new possibilities" (p. 255). Sommer and Cox (2003) and Ward and Sommer (2006) emphasized the use of stories as a way to deepen and enhance the supervision process, and they pointed to the use of classical fairy tales or myths to promote exposure to multiple perspectives. Similarly, Anderson and Holmes (2007) suggested that identifying major themes from a supervisee's personal story and linking them with a favorite fairy tale or folk story can lead to enhanced personal awareness and growth.…”

“…S tories have long assisted individuals and cultures in making meaning of experience. Recently, stories have also been used in supervision to facilitate supervisee growth (Anderson & Holmes, 2007;Crocket, 2004;London & Tarragona, 2007;Sax, 2006;Sommer & Cox, 2003;Ward & Sommer, 2006). The question of how stories from diverse cultures could be used in supervision to transcend cultural boundaries became the focus of an ongoing dialogue among members of the Supervision Research Interest Group at the University of Mississippi.…”