Critical Reflections on Clinical Supervision
A Social Justice Issue for Social Workers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18060/28122Keywords:
clinical supervision, clinical licensure, social work regulation, clinical social work practice, social justiceAbstract
Clinical supervision, a central experience for social workers, is a requirement for clinical licensure in all 50 states, making it an essential component of social work practice. Clinical licensure indicates a higher level of expertise and provides more job opportunities and a higher professional status for social workers. When social workers encounter challenges to obtaining clinical licensure, professional inequities are perpetuated. This is a social justice issue for the social work profession. This paper explores clinical supervision in the context of clinical licensure. A discussion of the social work regulation system, functions of supervision, and factors influencing clinical supervision is presented. Recommendations for addressing social justice in clinical supervision are identified, including more emphasis on social work research, inclusion of leadership and supervision curricula in schools of social work, strategies to reduce costs of supervision, and implementation of supervisor training.
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