Podcast episode 22: Supervision: nourishing and flourishing your professional self- a conversation with social workers, Pam Cohen and Marie Heydon

Just Another Do Gooder

The topic of this podcast is supervision and how we can do it better. I talk with two expert educators in the field, Pam Cohen and Marie Heydon.

Pam Cohen was the senior staff supervisor at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney for many years, and now has a private practice at St Vincent’s Clinic, mainly with cardiac and pulmonary patients.

In addition to her clinical work, Pam is an expert in group work and the clinical supervision of Allied Health professionals. She has taught courses in clinical supervision, group work and the psychosocial aspects of cardiac disease all over Australia.

Marie Heydon has extensive experience as a clinician, supervisor and educator in the health sector, including running individual and group supervision for staff and students. Marie currently works as a senior workforce development consultant in health. She also does consultancy work as an Authorised Visitor for the NSW Trustee and Guardian.

Together, Pam and Marie regularly present an in depth 4-day course on supervision for social workers, to further develop the supervision practice of participants. The course was originally devised by the renowned Sheila Truswell and Claire Bundey in the late 80’s – and through their succession planning, continues to this day.

Our conversation explores the key issues covered in their course, including,

• What we mean by the term supervision
• Working with the power dynamics and power differentials in the supervisory relationship
• What the research tells us about the effectiveness of supervision
• Why supervision may be an antidote or preventative for burnout
• Working with differing learning styles
• How to give feedback that is both challenging and constructive

and

• How to improve the capacity for reflexive and reflective practice.