Bolster and Protect with Supervision

This week, I was at a community meeting with colleagues from Dietitian Supervision Resources Australia and International hosted by DSRAI Founder Tara Crow, the Zoom room filled with Supervisors whose passion and commitment to supporting the wellbeing and development of our Dietitian colleagues was palpable. I was particularly struck by the time, energy and expertise that Dietitians have, and continue to contribute towards advocating for their communities and their colleagues, often while navigating significant uncertainty and pressure within their own work.

We found ourselves deep in conversation about how stretched many Dietitians are right now, and how Supervision might feel like one more thing for a Dietitian that already feels overwhelmed. It is at these times - when our profession is already stretched to the limit - it can feel antithetical to suggest one more thing, even if that thing is the very thing that is most needed. The last thing an overwhelmed practitioner needs is another professional responsibility, another appointment to fit into an already crowded week, or another expectation that they should somehow find more capacity when there is very little left to give.

And then Tara offered this as a reflection...

Supervision is there to protect and bolster you, rather than ask more of you.

And as that landed in my own body, I thought: Yes. That’s exactly what I experience Supervision to be, and what I believe to be Supervision's greatest gift

Protect and bolster. Protect and bolster.

And it has me thinking - this distinction really matters. Supervision should not simply become another professional development activity requiring more preparation, reflection or output from an already stretched practitioner. At its best, supervision can offer somewhere to put some of the work down for a while. It gives us an opportunity to think alongside someone else, unpack difficult situations and decisions, acknowledge uncertainty or moral distress, and consider the impact that our work and the systems around us are having on us.

There is something particularly important here about responsibility (one of my favourite topics, give me the mic!). When we care deeply about the people and communities we work alongside, it can be incredibly difficult to witness a system that is not adequately meeting their needs. We can find ourselves working harder, stretching further and carrying an increasing sense of personal responsibility for gaps that we did not create and cannot individually resolve.

Supervision is a unique space which can help us untangle what is ours to hold from what belongs to the systems around us. We can continue to care, advocate and use our professional influence without taking personal responsibility for fixing structural problems that sit well beyond the scope of any individual practitioner. This is not about becoming less invested in the wellbeing of the people we support, but more about recognising that absorbing the consequences of a system that is not meeting community needs is neither a sustainable nor reasonable expectation of individual practitioners. And protecting our capacity means being able to recognise, with clarity and care, that something can matter enormously to us without being ours alone to fix.

Supervision can also provide a space where our expertise and contribution are recognised and valued. This feels particularly important when systems are changing, when practitioners are carrying the consequences of decisions they did not make, and when the work itself can feel increasingly difficult to sustain.

If this describes your professional world at the moment, I would encourage you to investigate supervision, not because you need to do more, but because you deserve access to structures that protect and bolster your capacity to keep doing your work sustainably. Find out what good supervision can look like. Speak with colleagues who already meet regularly with someone. Explore individual or group supervision, and look for a trained Supervisor who feels like a good fit. No one has to either have it all sorted, or be on the brink of the abyss before reaching out.

Dietitian Supervision Resources Australia and International has a database of 80 trained Supervisors, including over 20 with a special interest in Disability and NDIS practice, with both individual and group supervision available.

If we believe that Dietitians need to be valued and supported in the work that they do for others, then it’s important we extend that to ourselves too. None of us need to wait until we’re struggling. Supervision can be part of how we protect our capacity, build a professional life that feels sustainable and worthwhile and stay connected to our work, ourselves and each other.