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Less than 15% of youth workers get supervision which meets the recommended level. One session per month for an hour. The resulting problems lead many to burnout and even to leave the youth sector entirely.
If you are a professional youth worker you should be getting supervision which supports you as a person, a practitioner and a professional.
The Ultimate Supervision Service assists practitioners to achieve maximum professional standards and personal satisfaction in the workplace. We work with youth and community services workers in:
The maintenance of harmonious working relationships, the cultivation of esprit de corps and the development of you as a person.
The promotion and maintenance of good standards of work, co-ordination of practice with policies of administration, the assurance of an efficient and smooth-running youth service.
The educational development of each individual youth worker in a manner calculated to evoke them fully to realise their possibilities of usefulness.
We provide for face-to-face supervision sessions in our office in Wantirna or at your office if you prefer. This is our most popular option.
Telephone sessions are also available to those who find it difficult to get to face-to-face sessions or just want the ease of picking up the phone.
We also provide for online sessions through tools such as Skype and google hangouts. A popular choice for our rural and remote clients
We focus on three areas of the supervision process; administration, education and support to develop the whole person whilst fostering appropriate accountability and best practice in our discipline. Supervision strengthens the workers ability to respond to uncertainty and complexity in their chosen field of practice.
Supervision never happens in a vacuum. As such we provide the opportunity to develop a whole of organisation process for supervision including developing policies and processes as well as involving managers where appropriate. We are also acutely aware that teams need a safe reflective space for collective case discussion and debriefing. To this end we also provide group supervision sessions where participants are active contributors to knowledge building, advocacy and support initiatives within their team environment.
I became aware of the Ultimate Youth Worker through Facebook and eventually met Aaron when he facilitated a Youth Mental Health First Aid course which I attended. Working as a residential youth worker and a primary school chaplain for two different organisations, I felt that I was not being adequately supervised as only one of these organisations offered supervision and those sessions were generally group sessions which became more about company politics than worker care! I discovered that the Ultimate Youth Worker offered supervision and decided to check it out, thinking that supervision which could cover both my roles and with a neutral person would be beneficial. I applied for external supervision with the Ultimate Youth Worker and commenced meeting every six weeks with Aaron in September 2016.
Over the past two and a half years, Aaron has been understanding, insightful, challenging and supportive. He has helped me to put situations into perspective; he has patiently guided me to a place where I no longer automatically go on the defensive but can default to a more rational and calm response; he has shown me that I am not alone in my challenges as he and others he has spoken to have encountered the same or similar situations; he has empowered me and encouraged me; and he hasn’t been afraid to use “tough love” when required. Aaron encourages me to look forward and has made some helpful suggestions around how to approach certain individuals which I had not previously thought of. Aaron is also a big believer in self-care and has been proactive in encouraging me to make self-care a priority - and holding me accountable for it! – so that I will have longevity in this field.
I believe I have grown as a youth worker because of my supervision with Aaron. I have grown in confidence and maturity in my work; I have become aware of the value in what I do and what I contribute to the lives of the young people I work with; I have learnt that I can trust my instincts and that while making mistakes isn’t ideal, it happens and it’s ok and I can learn and grow from that. Through supervision with Aaron I have found that I am not alone, my challenges are not unique and not a reflection on me, who I am and how I work with young people, and that there is support available to me. I believe that I would not be able to successfully fulfil what is required for me to be a youth worker without the thorough and vital supervision that I have had for the past two and a half years and continue to have.
Tracey McGlashan Youth Worker and Chaplain
Supervision is one of the best tools available to youth workers to help them to critically reflect on the work they do. It helps them to debrief in tough times and celebrate the rare mountain top experiences. It also builds them as people, practitioners and as members of a profession.
If you are a youth worker you need to be getting supervision on a regular basis.
Find out how we can help.
