Supervision and Practice
Organisations are increasingly understanding the importance of supervision, reflective practice and defusing/debriefing processes in the workplace. Staff wellbeing is an important focus of organisational support particularly when working with trauma. Teams can utilise our trauma-informed group supervision and practice services to enhance their wellbeing plan and mitigate the risks and impacts of vicarious trauma. To learn more about stress outcomes visit our professional wellbeing page.
Trauma-Informed Group Supervision
Individual Practitioner Supervision Groups
Practitioner Supervision Groups offer a safe, structured, and trauma-attuned space for professionals to come together, reflect, and strengthen their wellbeing and practice. Each group is facilitated by an experienced supervisor and brings together practitioners who want to deepen their capacity to work safely, sustainably, and sensitively with people experiencing trauma.
These groups create an environment of shared wisdom and collective support. Through guided reflection, real-world discussion, and wellbeing-focused strategies, participants explore the challenges of their roles while building confidence, resilience, and clarity in trauma-sensitive ways of working.
We offer throughout the year dedicated tailored groups:
- New Graduates — Build a strong foundation, gain confidence, and develop reflective skills early in your career.
- Managers & Team Leaders — Explore trauma-responsive leadership, staff wellbeing, boundaries, and organisational responsibilities.
- Social Workers & Caseworkers — Strengthen reflective capacity, client engagement, and sustainable practice approaches.
- Clinicians & Therapeutic Practitioners — Deepen clinical thinking, regulation strategies, and trauma-attuned therapeutic approaches
- Psychologists – An opportunity to enhance current trauma- sensitive practices and explore the new Code of Conduct for Psychologists.
- Legal and Justice – Creating space for reflection on the impacts of legal and justice work from a trauma-informed lens
Our individual practitioner groups are now open for Jan-Jun 26. Book in your wellbeing support now for next year, and benefit from starting the year with a wellbeing plan in place. Please click the link to express your interest and register for the group. Each group is 6 participants, the first session runs for 90 mins and the subsequent sessions are 60 mins. These occur once a month online. You will be provided with links to the sessions once you register. To see the bios for our supervisors visit the Our People page.
Click below for more practitioner wellbeing resources from understanding vicarious trauma and vicarious resilience to the importance of reflective practice.
Group: Justice and Legal
Dates: Mar – August 26
Supervisor – Julie Dombrowski
Group: Leaders
Dates: Mar-August 26
Supervisor – Peter Streker
Organisational Group Supervision
Blue Knot’s Organisational trauma-informed group supervision provides supervision through a trauma-informed lens for people who work regularly with complex trauma clients. The aim of the sessions is to provide supervisees with an opportunity to debrief, recognise and respond to vicarious trauma, and explore tips and strategies which support optimal communication practices and interpersonal connections with people they support.
Those who may benefit from trauma-informed group supervision are:
- Interdisciplinary teams working clinically with adult survivors of complex trauma and their families
- Legal teams working with victims and witnesses of crime
- Workers supporting clients with past and/or present traumas
- Teams from legal, health, mental health and human services in government, non-government, public and private sectors
- Blue Knot trauma-informed group supervision can be integrated into ongoing practice support for staff to maintain best practice and self-care.
Organisational Group Supervision can provide a reflective space each month to connect with your peers and look after yourselves as a team.
What is Defusing and Debriefing?
Defusing and debriefing of experiences and incidents are informal and formal processes that can be utilised to support staff and teams.
Often defusing and debriefing occur where there have been major changes in organisations, traumatic incidents that impact teams or specific cases that leave a lasting impact. Understanding how to support staff whether you are a manager/leader or a colleague within a team is important. This includes managing vicarious trauma within the workplace and understanding how to manage the impacts of informal defusing and/or debriefing.
Despite good intentions retelling traumatic material with colleagues informally, without support in place, can cause teams and workplaces to become traumatised. Having structures in place for staff to access for defusing and debriefing is important.
The concept of debriefing is understood differently in different contexts. Our qualified supervisors can undertake planned debriefing sessions to unpack a difficult event or case to provide further support and strategies. Blue Knot does not provide crisis intervention debriefing.
