Speak Out August 2020 DIGITAL EDITION

Mentoring & supervision

How do I know if a potential supervisor is qualified? Becoming familiar with the Association’s Supervision Standards is key to making this determination. The standards detail various qualities that a supervisor should possess. A few, core recommended skills/ experience include: • a professional qualification in speech pathology, • a minimum of 3 years, post-qualifying experience in the supervisee’s field of practice, • a clear understanding of professional and practice issues, and legislation/policy related to the supervisee’s field of practice, • having undertaken a course in the provision of supervision, • having undertaken relevant continuing professional development to ensure currency of knowledge. When determining whether a potential supervisor is suited to your circumstances, the following discussion points may be helpful: • What is the supervisor’s experience working in the sector, setting, client age range, and clinical areas of interest? • What relevant professional development have they engaged in? Have they had training in any specific approaches? • What is their previous experience offering supervision? Have they engaged in professional development related to clinical supervision? • Share some of the characteristics of the supervisee’s caseload and discuss how the supervisor may be able to offer support. Because this is a business partnership, the person contracting the supervisor may also request professional references from colleagues. Speech Pathology Australia offers support to members for successfully engaging in supervision. This includes resources for those who would like to increase their capacity to offer quality supervision. To speak with the Association’s Professional Support Advisor, please email: psa@ speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

members and available supervisors. Although the register is a valuable tool, users may not always be successful in finding a match suited to their individual circumstances. In addition to the Supervision Register, speech pathologists might also secure external supervision by engaging their own personal and professional networks. On occasion, speech pathologists have successfully identified a supervisor through connections made on reputable social media groups, such as SPA’s online communities. In all cases, supervisees and their employers are responsible for verifying that the person providing supervision is qualified to offer support in a given area. This is especially important when a potential supervisor is not previously known to the clinician or the organisation, and even more particularly if the initial connection was made through a less-reliable source like social media.

Nathan Cornish-Raley Professional Support Advisor

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Speak Out | August 2020