Dialogical Supervision: A Challenging Child and Family Presentation

This paper draws on the concept of dialogue to describe dialogical supervision and its distinction from traditional approaches. It is argued that supervisors have a range of influences on their work, drawing on both traditional and dialogical orientations. These orientations can complement each other to broaden the range of practices available to a supervisor. Traditional and dialogical supervision can be envisaged on a continuum. The authors study four transcript excerpts from a supervision conversation in which they participated. These excerpts are discussed for their dialogical processes and supervision features. One of the excerpts is described as typical of traditional supervision, while the other three have features of dialogical supervision. The aim is to provide an illustrative point of reference regarding dialogical supervision.