"Many “experts” argue that a supervisor has no role in healing or that it is unethical for a supervisor to have a role in healing. In fact, this author had a paper rejected for publication because of the “blurring of boundaries” that was inferred from the text. To be fair, this author did not explicitly address boundaries in the paper; she assumed that supervisors would already be equipped with strong boundaries. However, the assumption made by the reviewers suggests that supervisors are viewed as having poor boundaries and need to be explicitly taught what boundaries to hold in supervision. If this is in fact the case, then the supervision literature and training is already failing on multiple levels of the system." Me - in the introduction to a study I'm formulating, 2020
True story.
To be fair, the rejection of the article hurt. It stung really bad. But I realized that the reviewers don't know me and therefore I need to be explicit about boundaries. So I'll be completing this study and then citing myself in the revision of the rejection article.
In the article, I will provide practical guidance for supervisors on when and how to set boundaries in supervisors. Some domains:
online presence
websites, social media
interviews
hiring a new social worker, being interviewed to be a supervisor
the first meeting
paperwork, supervisee's bill of rights
ongoing consistency
self-disclosure, social gatherings
unique circumstances
small towns, dual relationships, supervising social workers with a primary trauma history
First, I will complete a thorough review of the literature (small scale scoping review). An initial search on PsycINFO revealed 561 results for the terms "supervision + boundar*". This information will form my literature review.
Next, I plan on collecting qualitative data from students enrolled in my supervision class this fall (convenience sample, but also the one I think will be most beneficial). I will provide two different formats: an online survey and in-person interviews. I think it will be best to have the questions available electronically before they provide their answers so they can think about the content. I have four questions for them to answer at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester. In this study, collecting the data at two different points is not to compare and contrast their answers, but to deepen their answers as they learn about supervision, that is, more data.
Then, based on the information gathered, the domains may be expanded to include topics that the students found to be relevant to their supervision. In addition, specific language and actions of supervisors deemed balanced in their boundaries will be used to provide the reader with practical approaches to boundaries.
Finally, the ultimate goal is to create an accessible, concise infographic that can be easily shared across social media and a single-page pdf that can be shared via email. Hopefully, field departments can share this with community partners (aka, those supervising interns). This way, the information is not behind a paywall and can be directly accessed by supervisors in the field.
I'm excited for this study! I think it will be fun and informative for me and will provide great information to supervisors so they can form and maintain boundaries.