This clearly written, practical handbook describes an innovative and successful approach to individual, group, and peer supervision that is suitable for use in any environment (clinical, corporate, educational, health, governmental, community): positive supervision.
Positive supervision focuses on what actually works instead of on problems and on supervisees’ strengths rather than on their deficits. The task of supervisors using this approach is – unlike the more traditional problemsolving– to create solutions with their supervisees and to teach them to apply the same approach when working with their own clients.
Essential reading for all supervisors, this book introduces a new form of supervision, based on positive psychology and solution-focused brief therapy, that is shorter, more positive and hopeful, and more cost-effective than traditional methods.
From the reviews:
"In this book Fredrike Bannink examines supervision from a positive psychology perspective. One of the strengths of the approach presented here is that it follows a readily understandable and coherent concept. The book has a suitable grounding in science …. For a university teacher such as myself, whose main role is providing supervision, the book - in addition to a clear orientation as a result of its focused and systematic approach to supervision - provides numerous pieces of practical advice for my day-to-day work.
Thomas von Lengerke, PhD, Deputy Head, Medical Psychology Unit, Hannover Medical School, Germany, Nov. 2015, in German, for www.socialnet.de
[T]his book is about providing supervision in decidedly positive, cognitive and solution focused ways. Its focus is on What works? How does it work? and How may we build on what works? The aim is to find competence in a person and to make supervision more enjoyable for both supervisees and supervisors. [...] a lucidly written book with a lot of practical advice and tips for supervisors and supervisees in all walks of life."
Robert Riley in Kairos - Slovenian Journal for Psychotherapy, June 2015
"This book introduces us and gives the reader a taste of a unique form of supervision, based on positive psychology and solution-focused brief therapy. The text is richly illustrated with case studies, supervisory examples, lists of questions, exercises and testimonials of supervisees, which makes reading this book thoroughly meaningful and visually attractive. I highly recommend this book for every supervisor who wants to add value to their own and the professional work of their supervisees and see them grow and look after themselves so they are more tuned and rewarded in helping others."
Meike Brandon, writing at Mediate.com (July 2015)
For full review see http://www.mediate.com/articles/positivesupervisionreview.cfm
"I picked up Fredrike Bannink’s book, Handbook of Positive Supervision wondering who it was for. Was it just for supervisors of therapists supervising other therapists? Or could it be a training manual for teachers mentoring other teachers, lawyers overseeing other lawyers, engineers managing other engineers, and parents raising children? That is, could it be used by anyone to help someone else get better at a craft, a profession, a skill? I leave that question open, but I think you’ll see that I favor the wider view of its usefulness.
"This short book packs a great deal of information into twelve chapters and 8 appendices. The running narrative is supported by 28 brief case stories of application, numbered and marked so that they are easy to find quickly.
"I first encountered Fredrike Bannink at a conference where she was leading a workshop on positive supervision. She had seen and handled all the problems that people raised. I thought, “I would love to learn from this woman.” Now I have the chance with this wonderful resource."
Kathryn Britton, MAPP '06, former software engineer, coach working with professionals (Theano Coaching LLC), and teacher of positive workplace concepts at the University of Maryland, in Positive Psychology News Daily, 2015
For full review see http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/kathryn-britton/2015040631395
What supervisees say:
“In traditional supervision I learned from the ‘sharp minds’ of my supervisors; in positive supervision I learned to use my own ‘sharp mind.’ This helps me to become more independent and more effective in creating and supporting change.”
“My supervisor taught me the power of an optimistic, realistic, and hopeful approach. Positive supervision invited me to reflect on what I want to achieve and how I can rely on my own competencies and strengths. I was encouraged to explore what I had already achieved in working with my clients, what works, what I want to continue doing, and what I would like to do differently.”
“Suddenly I realized I had more competencies than I previously thought I had. By experiencing what positive supervision does to you, I became instantly excited to also use this approach in the treatments with my clients.”
“This supervision gives me a sense of empowerment. I do hope that other supervisees will experience the same as I did through this book.”