Using intervision to improve practice

I first came across peer reflection when I was practising as a social worker in children’s services. I still remember the comment above a colleague made to me when I shared challenges around a family I was supporting. It was so helpful to hear the perspective of colleagues dealing with similar situations – who ‘got it’ – and the process helped me work out the boundaries of my role.

I was therefore really interested when I moved to Research in Practice to learn about intervision.

What is intervision?

Intervision is one of the main models of group supervision. The word can be broken down into ‘inter’ – meaning ‘between’ and ‘vision’ – the act of seeing, and this encapsulates what it is about. My first comment was ‘that sounds really similar to group reflection in family therapy training’ – and they come from the same roots.

I was intrigued to find out how it works when the premise isn’t thinking about a particular family, but rather work challenges or dilemmas. It’s a space where colleagues come together to share and hear different perspectives and thoughts on a dilemma, and hopefully go away ‘seeing’ this differently.

How does it work?

We do intervision online, although it can be done in person. When we run a session, someone speaks for about 5-10 minutes on a work challenge, and they conclude with a specific question they want the group to reflect on.

They then mute themselves, turn off their camera, and listen to their colleagues reflecting on the dilemma. The group reflection continues for about 15 minutes, and then the chair asks the presenter to turn their camera and microphone on again. They then reflect on what they have heard, what has resonated with them, and what they would like to explore further. There is then a second round of reflections from the group.

It’s a discussion between peers, hearing different perspectives and lenses on a dilemma. It holds on to the systemic ideas of curiosity and not knowing: there isn’t one right answer to the dilemma, but hearing different people’s perspectives brings a richness and breadth to the discussion.

There’s no pressure to come up with a ‘right’ answer, and this creates a safe space for reflecting out loud and being curious about possibilities. It brings in people’s wider experience, which not only helps us think about ways to overcome the dilemma, but in the process we also learn more about our team colleagues, their experiences and values.

We’ve had a real variety of dilemmas discussed in intervision, from how as a team we position our work in ethically complex areas like age assessments, to refining processes – like updating outdated resources. Both have been equally insightful and helpful, helping us collectively agree on ways forward, and indeed an hour often doesn’t seem long enough. We’ve come away from these sessions not only with ideas to overcome dilemmas but with a deeper sense of connection with colleagues.

What are the benefits?

Intervision is one of the main models of group supervision. Practising it effectively can help to:

Group supervision is one chapter of a new Research in Practice online learning hub that supports effective reflective supervision. The aim of the hub is to build a positive culture of supervision throughout an organisation. It contains practical ideas and tips, learning from research and ideas about how to put learning into practice in supervision.

It is not always possible to reflect in-depth on practice during individual supervision and doing so in groups can improve practice.

I’d highly recommend starting your own intervision sessions within your organisation.