Strengths-based group supervision: Restoring child and adolescent-centered social work team meetings

Abstract

Child mental health social workers are inundated on a daily basis with complex family dynamics. Burn-out and cynicism towards change become frequent. Strengths-based group supervision is a client-based alternative to the “team meeting as usual” approach and combats some of the challenges workers often experience. Strengths-based group supervision is based on The Strengths Model, a case management model with four distinct components. The Model has been implemented in adult mental health settings and recently has been adapted for work with youth with mental illness. This paper describes strengths-based group supervision and discusses it’s applicability to different child serving systems.