Decentering Power in Clinical Supervision

Traditional supervision is rooted in oppressive practices that assume the superiority of one over the other. In addition, because mental health professionals are predominantly white, clinicians of color in community practice or in an internship are more likely to have white supervisors; adding societal-level power dynamics into the supervisory relationship, as well. Anti-oppressive supervision practices that address power dynamics will be discussed. Rooted in an anti-blackness framework that considers the experiences of all BIPOC individuals, this discussion will explore restructuring hierarchies in supervisory practices, exploring white supremacy culture and how it may manifest in supervision, investigating internalized oppression and its manifestation in internalized superiority or internalized inferiority and conclude with best practices for supervisors and supervisees in enacting their liberation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to: 

1. Define social location and discuss how it relates to supervision. 
   
2. Discuss at least 3 differences between traditional supervision and anti-racist supervision practices. 
   
3. Discuss at least 2 ways in which white supremacy culture manifests in clinical work.
   

Norissa Williams, PhD, MSW

Dr. Norissa Williams holds a doctorate in psychology, a Master’s in Social Work and is the CEO of Liberation Research and Practice Institute (RPI). Liberation RPI partners with organizations to achieve the aims of liberation through developing their capacity to be anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and develop cultural competence. She accomplishes this through the provision of trainings, needs assessment, strategic action planning, program implementation, facilitation and moderation. Dr. Williams has previously served as clinical faculty and program director of the Masters in Counseling program at NYU. In addition, she has had other county-level leadership positions with the aims of helping organizations operate more equitably. Her scholarship relates to culturally embedded processes of coping socialization, cross-cultural differences in mental health help-seeking behaviors, critical consciousness development, decolonizing and liberating pedagogical and clinical practices, as well as anti-racist/anti-oppressive practices in organizational contexts.

Class fees are listed below:

• Full Tuition - $60
• GSS Alumni - $50
• Current Field Instructor - $50
• Current Adjunct Faculty - $50
• SWHPN Member - $50
• 3+ members registering from one agency - $40 per registration
• Non-Fordham Current MSW or Social Work PhD Student - $40
• Veterans - $40
• Fordham Faculty and Staff - $40
• Current Fordham MSW or PhD Student - $30
• Fordham Alumni Palliative Care Fellow - $30
• Current Fordham Palliative Care Fellowship Field Instructor/Career Mentor - $30
• Current Fordham Palliative Care Fellow or Montefiore Fellow - $0

Continuing Education Hours

Completion of this class will result in the receipt of two (2) continuing education hours. CEHs are not awarded for partial completion of the class.

You will receive the Zoom link for joining the class by the day before the class. You will need a computer and a reliable WiFi connection. The computer may be a desktop or a laptop. It may be an Apple or Windows computer.

If you have never used Zoom before, you will likely be prompted to download an applet, which is a small program that allows Zoom to communicate with your computer. This is safe and you will need to do this to join the class.

It is NOT advised that you participate using a table (e.g,.an iPad) or a cellular phone. The software is not optimized for these devices.

Please plan to join the online class 15 minutes before the start time to be sure that you don’t have any problems connecting. We cannot provide technical support to you and refunds won’t be offered if you have technical problems. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact us at [email protected] at least a few days before the class.