“Vicarious trauma can actually shift your worldview. It makes you see things through a different lens because of what you get exposed to.”

With Liz Andrew-Brake, Social Worker, Supervisor and Coach

In this episode we talk about Healing centred engagement, advocacy & through the power of a social work lens. We talk about the benefits and nuances of supervision for those holding space in the healing profession – social workers, healers, counsellors and the different ways supervision supports and is enacted.

In this episode

00:21 Why Supervision Matters
04:07 Liz Origin and Burnout
08:35 What is Supervision?
17:51 Workplace Dynamics and Karpmann’s Triangle
21:00 Trusting Supervision
24:11 External vs Workplace Support
26:09 Burnout and Moral Distress
30:19 Healing Centered Practice
36:41 Self Care That Fits

Terms, Resources & References

I had so much fun talking about different terms we find along the way.

Moral distress ~ the strain that arises when practitioners feel unable to act in alignment with their values inside constrained systems.

Moral distress & apathy ~ A moral cynicism derived from feelings of powerlessness, which provides a rich medium for the growth of burnout.
Compassion fatigue ~ A term that describes the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of helping others — often through experiences of stress or trauma. Compassion fatigue is often mistaken for burnout, which is a cumulative sense of fatigue or dissatisfaction”

Resources & References

Proqol ~ A resource for moral distress & compassion fatigue

Healing Centered Engagement ~ Dr. Shawn Ginwright’s framework for moving beyond trauma-informed practice toward culture, agency, and collective healing. His website is a great resource for info (he’s got a few books too, and also a good resource is his podcast he did with Brene Brown)

Karpman Drama Triangle ~ a model for understanding victim, rescuer, and persecutor dynamics in challenging workplace or relational systems.

“It is a model of dysfunctional social interactions and illustrates a power game that involves three roles: Victim, Rescuer, and Persecutor, each role represents a common and ineffective response to conflict.”

— Here’s a resource we use as part of Ako torowhānui

Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) ~ supervision, ethics, and continuing professional development standards for social workers in Australia.

About Liz Andrew-Brake

Liz Andrew Brake is a Social Worker, Supervisor and Coach. Through her personal journey of burnout and vicarious trauma, Liz learnt about the importance of Supervision, which inspired me to open up my own business coming up to 4 years ago. I now get to work with inspiring practitioners on their own journeys!

She supports Practitioners to enjoy long lasting careers in the industry, where they stay passionate and inspired without sacrificing their personal wellbeing, looking after themselves and staying passionate and inspired.

Liz works on beautiful Ngurra Country of the Darug People, she is Pākehā (non-Māori from Aotearoa, New Zealand) and has lived in Australia for the past 11 years.

Liz has been working as a Social Worker for the past 16+ years, in Australia, New Zealand and UK, predominantly in the Child Protection sector both Government and Non Government and a variety of different roles.