Becoming a good reflective supervisor – some key principles
12th June 2026
Becoming a good supervisor – what does it feel like to be on the receiving end of me…?
Image by Johnny Greig
Introduction
This second blog post on The Supervision Space, is intended to be one of the building blocks to setting out some of the foundations of knowledge about social work supervision. It specifically focuses on ‘being a supervisor’ as opposed to supervision itself, which will be covered in a separate blog later in the month. From this basis, we will then start to drill down and consider specific aspects of professional development for supervisors.
This blog starts with considering the reality for supervisors in practice and what the research says about the functions of supervision and the supervisor. We then explore some key principles which I initially set out in an article in 2025 for BASW Professional Social Work Magazine (Williams, 2025) and have developed further here. As with all blogs for The Supervision Space, we will end with a summary of key points and some reflective questions.
Being a supervisor: the challenges and realities
From my own experience of practice and spending time with supervisors in statutory social work services in particular, the supervisor role is intense. I’ve grown to appreciate that supervisors have to ‘do’ a lot and ‘be’ a lot in order to navigate the context they are in and respond to the needs of supervisees, people who access services and the organisation.
My own research highlighted that there is a relentless requirement for supervisors to have the ‘psycho-social mobility’ to juggle these multi-layered demands. This requires them to have the skills and resilience to regulate their own nervous system and emotions alongside reading the practice landscape and having the capacity to adapt in the moment. Doing this calls for ‘hard emotional labour’ and the self-insight to ask for support and know when to step back and find reflective distance.
What research and theory say about the supervisor?
There is a growing body of research evidence about supervision in the UK, which highlights the realities of practice versus the aspirations set out in guidance and policy. These two positions form conflicting views bringing us to a position of ‘rhetoric versus reality’ (Turner-Daly and Jack, 2017) with a ‘significant gap’ between the two (Beddoe et al., 2015).
Models of practice and the theory of supervision suggests that there is a global consensus that supervision has the three main functions of ‘management and administration’, ‘education and development’ and ‘support for practice and wellbeing’ (Davys and Beddoe, 2010; O’Donoghue et al, 2018; Wilkins, 2019). However, much of the research in the last decade suggests that the focus in practice is on management oversight and the administration of performance objectives, to the detriment of the other functions (Beddoe, 2010; Manthorpe et al., 2015; Wilkins, 2018).
Previously, research has mostly focused on the supervision task and process, which although helpful didn’t always place a lens on the supervisor themselves and how they take up their role both in recognised supervision spaces as well as outside of these. More recent studies have started to examine this (Ferguson et al., 2020; Beddoe et al., 2021; Gregory, 2024; Ahmed, 2025). In fact, I found in my own research, that when you do observe supervisors, it is possible to see that the functions of education and support are in their mind a lot, even if we may not see them happen in formal, planned supervision spaces.
Becoming a reflective supervisor
So, what makes a good supervisor? Attributes such as reliability and availability (Bogo and McKnight, 2006) honesty, openness, emotional intelligence and self-awareness (SCIE, 2014), empathic, supportive, knowledgeable, trusted, respected and authoritative (Wilkins, 2019) are cited within the literature as good qualities to have.
Additionally, the post qualifying standards for practice supervisors in England for children and families (DoE, 2018) and adults (DoHSC, 2018) set out what supervisors need to ‘know’ and ‘do’. So how do we develop these attributes beyond this to include ‘being’ a good reflective supervisor?
Well firstly it is all about ‘becoming’ because in my experience, we never fully arrive. We continue to grow and learn from our supervisees, the changing context of practice and continued self-examination. This is hopefully also alongside our own supervisor, and I am very fortunate to have an excellent one! In thinking about some particular areas of importance, there are some key principles to consider.
Developing self-awareness and insight
I can’t underestimate the importance of continuing to develop our ‘use of self’ as a supervisor. This is an absolutely essential aspect of good reflective, relationship-based practice. Taking time to think about what we bring to the supervision relationship can help us to understand what supervisees may need from us and what we may need to develop or reflect on more deeply.
Our ‘personal’ and ‘professional’ selves are not separate as social workers and whatever our role, we bring our whole self to work. Jane Wonnacot (2011) suggests that a whole range of aspects from our own biography and history shape our supervision style. This can be seen in the model below, based on her work.
Model based on Wonacott (2011)
Your position as supervisor gives you more power and authority in the relationship. Spending time to think about your own personal history and biography and how power and authority has affected the way you relate to people, in your family, at school, within the community, at work and with peers, can be illuminating.
It can also be useful to reflect on your relationships with key attachment figures and how this has shaped the way you see others in relationships. This can have a significant impact on the supervision ‘attachment dynamics’ which arise in your relationships with supervisees (Williams, 2023).
Reflecting on your work experiences and your own supervision history, for better or worse, can also provide invaluable insight into what also may have influenced your supervision style. Similarly, we can use these ideas to have conversations with supervisees in forming a supervision agreement, and ask questions like “what has worked for you in supervision in the past? How can I be helpful or unhelpful to you?”.
Celebrating uniqueness individuality and identity
Our core social work values of social justice and human rights require us as supervisors to continually review our position in terms of anti-racist, anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice. As part of our reflections on self, it’s helpful to review our own unique identity and how these factors may interrelate with individual supervisees.
Drawing on Burnham’s ‘social graces’ can help us to map out gender identity, geography, race, religion, age, ability, appearance, culture, class, colour, education, employment, ethnicity, spirituality, sexuality and sexual orientation. We can consider how these might intersect to give us positions of privilege and power, or not, and how this impacts on our capacity to take up our authority as a supervisor.
We can also use these in conversation with our supervisees to consider “how are we similar and different and what might this mean for power in our relationship?” and “how would I know if you were worried about racism? or homophobia? or access to work? or learning?”.
Enacting and embodying a relationship of reciprocity
The supervision working alliance invites the supervisor into a ‘dyadic’ relationship. This requires a significant level of emotional labour to form an empathic bond with supervisees. I wouldn’t be where I am with the knowledge, skills and expertise that I have, without my supervisees and what I learn alongside them. They deserve for me to think about what it must be like for them to be on the receiving end of me. It’s important for the supervisor to adopt a ‘facilitator’ posture, as opposed to being an ‘expert’, and give the supervisee the reins to be the ‘driver’ and navigate the landscape by utilising you as another mind to think with and someone to bear witness to the emotional impact of the work they do.
It helps to ask questions like “how will we know when we are working well together? How would we know when to worry?”
Embracing imperfection, incompleteness and vulnerability
I’ve learned over 30 years in the profession that it is full of perfectionists! This includes me! Given the brutal media coverage of social workers and often a harsh public narrative, we’re often surviving in a culture of blame. The work we do with people is full of unbearable and deep feelings such as shame, anger, guilt, fear and anxiety. These feelings can get into us and come into supervision spaces.
It’s important that as supervisors, we continually embrace what it means to be human in this context, and what it means to work within the messiness and imperfection of human relationships. It is helpful to reframe our vulnerabilities as a strength or a competence, and model imperfection to supervisees. This includes not always knowing the answer, having to sit with uncertainty and know that as people we are incomplete and imperfect and that this is okay. Sometimes we must find the courage to challenge the system that hopes we can be perfect. We can’t.
Providing compassion and containment
Our primary task focuses on achieving safety, protection and support to the people who access social work services. Arguably though, our main task is to contain the anxiety this generates in the general public, the organisation, ourselves and our supervisees. This anxiety can serve to have an infinite impact, requiring us to be available and respond all the time, which is both unrealistic and unhealthy.
Brene Brown’s research (The gifts of imperfection: Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are) found that the most compassionate people in the world are also the best at setting boundaries. So, it’s important through conversations with your own supervisor and supervisees, as well as through self-reflection, to negotiate what are appropriate boundaries.
Containment happens within the context of a relationship. It refers to a process of one person (the container or supervisor), receiving the difficult, undigested feelings and thoughts of another (the contained or supervisee), helping them to name the feelings, make sense of them and return them back in a more digested form whilst maintaining their own emotional regulation and balanced state of mind.
In order to do this effectively, the container needs a container, to provide them with a safe haven, time to slow things down and a relationship of trust. Receiving this provides a basis from which to function as an autonomous, confident and resilient professional and nurture supervisees who can become this too.
Summary of key points
Becoming a supervisor is a continuous process
Reflecting on self and our own biography and history can provide powerful insights into our supervision style
Embracing our unique self and being curious about that of others can help us to take up our authority manage power in relationships with supervisees
A relationship of reciprocity is essential in forming a partnership and working alliance
Accept that you are imperfect, incomplete and vulnerable!
Having good boundaries maximises our potential for compassion and empathy
Good reflective supervisors, need a good reflective supervisor!
Reflective questions
What have you learnt from reading this blog today?
What struck you the most?
What will you take away and think about more deeply?
What impact might this/has this had on your own practice and the people you work with i.e. your supervisees or people who use services?
What might they say they have noticed about you since you read the blog?
Who might you have a peer reflection with about your learning from the blog i.e a colleague or your manager? Or your team?
What key points arose from the peer reflection?
References
Ahmed, S, (2025) Supervision in adult social work in England: A qualitative study exploring the experiences of South Asian female supervisees. University of East London, PhD thesis.
Bogo, M., and McKnight, K. (2006) Clinical supervision in social work: A review of the research literature. The Clinical Supervisor, 24(1–2), pp. 49–67.
Beddoe, L. (2010) Surveillance or Reflection: Professional Supervision in ‘The Risk Society’. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Beddoe, L., Ferguson, H., Warwick, L., Disney, T., Leigh, J., & Cooner, TS. (2021) ‘Supervision in child protection: a space and place for reflection or an excruciating marathon of compliance?’, European Journal of Social Work, pp. 1- 13
Beddoe, L., Karvinen-Niinikoski, S., Ruch, G. and Tsui, M.-S. (2015) Towards an international consensus on a research agenda for social work supervision: report on the first survey of a Delphi study, British Journal of Social Work, 6 (1) pp. 1568-86.
Ferguson, H., Warwick, L., Cooner, T.S., Leigh, J., Beddoe, L., Disney, T. and Plumridge, G. (2020) The nature and culture of social work with children and families in long‐term casework: Findings from a qualitative longitudinal study. Child & Family Social Work. 25, Pp. 694-703
Gregory, M. (2024). ‘Supervision as a Dispersed Practice: Exploring the Creation of Supervisory Spaces in Day‐to‐Day Social Work Practice’. Child & Family Social Work. pp. N/A
Manthorpe, J., Moriarty, J., Hussein, S., Stevens, M., and Sharpe, E. (2015) Content and Purpose of Supervision Practice in England: views of newly qualified social workers, managers and directors, British Journal of Social Work. 45 (1), pp. 52-68.
O’Donoghue, K., Wong, Yuh Ju, P., and Tsui, M. (2018) Constructing an evidence-informed social work supervision model, European Journal of Social Work, 21 (3), pp. 348-358.
Turner-Daly, B., and G. Jack. (2018) Rhetoric vs. Reality in Social Work Supervision: The Experiences of a Group of Child Care Social Workers in England. Child and Family Social Work, 22 (1), pp. 36–46.
Wilkins, D. (2018) Does reflective supervision have a future in English local authority child and family social work? Journal of Children’s Services, 12 (2-3), pp. 164-173.
Wilkins, D. (2019) Social work supervision in child and family services: Developing a working theory of how and why it works, Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 31(3), pp.7-19.
Williams, J. (2023) Supervision as a secure base: the role of attachment theory within the emotional and psycho-social landscape of social work supervision. Journal of Social Work Practice, 37(3), 309-323.
Williams, J. (2025) What makes a good reflective supervisor? British Association of Social Workers – Professional Social Work Magazine, May/June 2025 issue. Available at: Where I’m Published
Wonnacott, J. (2011) Mastering social work supervision. London: Jessica Kingsley
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