Reflective Supervision/Consultant

Reflective supervision is a key component of infant and early childhood mental health practice. Reflective supervision is a strategy that involves regular, ongoing support given by supervisors or consultants to increase the supervisee’s reflective capacity. Reflective supervision is a collaborative discussion that uses emotions as data to explore the network of relationships surrounding the supervisee and his or her clients. It integrates knowledge about an infant or young child’s development with an understanding of the parent’s or caregiver’s needs. In addition, reflective supervision provides emotional support and increases the job skills and self-efficacy of the supervisee(s).

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Reflective supervisors and consultants recognize that practitioners experience strong emotions when working with infants, young children, and their families. Reflective supervision, therefore, address the emotional content of the work and how the practitioners’ emotional reactions affect their work.