Supervision
As an ongoing requirement of the Credential, all clinicians must complete a minimum of 6 hours of supervision relevant to eating disorders per year, including at least 3 hours in an individual (1:1) format.
What is Supervision?
Supervision is a collaborative process allowing consultation and professional connection between you and your supervisor – an experienced eating disorder treatment provider – about your clinical practice, supporting your learning and skill development. Regular and ongoing supervision throughout your career is a crucial component of professional practice. It can enhance your clinical work and help you to provide safe and effective care for your clients. The focus and structure of the supervision relevant to eating disorders should be appropriate for your own learning needs and provide a safe space for reflective practice and exploration of your knowledge and skill development in eating disorder treatment.
Planning your supervision
It is important to consider where you are in your professional and clinical career in the area of eating disorder treatment and plan your annual supervision around your individual needs.
For example, a supervision plan for an early career clinician who has just completed training in an evidence-based treatment model might focus on skill consolidation in this model, including core skills and possible challenges faced when implementing the model. Whereas more advanced clinicians might benefit from deeper exploration of micro-skills, severe and complex client presentations, and/or drawing on various therapeutic models in treatment provision. Wherever you are at in your professional journey, it is important that you access the appropriate supervision (i.e., individual and/or group) that supports you to provide safe and effective treatment for your clients.
What do I need to do?
You are required to complete at least 6 hours of supervision relevant to eating disorders each year you hold the Credential. At least 3 hours of supervision must be in a one-on-one format, with the remainder being in either a one-on-one or group format. Supervision can be undertaken face-to-face, via teleconference or videoconference.
Supervision activities
Activities in supervision sessions should allow reflective practice – a critical reflection on your own practice and commitment to ongoing professional growth and development. These activities may include case discussion, role play, formative feedback, discussion of new evidence and research, viewing and reflecting on video or audio recorded sessions, and practice of core treatment skills.
In planning your supervision for the year, you may find it useful to:
- Review best practice standards or evidence-based practice (e.g. ANZAED Clinical Practice &Training Standards, RANZCP Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Eating Disorders) enabling you to evaluate and improve your level of competency, treatment planning, and/or service delivery
- Undertake a self-assessment to identify possible areas for improvement, helping you to improve your practice to meet current standards using evidence-based practice or best practice standards
- Discuss your learning needs with your supervisor and jointly develop a learning plan to address the specific areas of development and growth
- Explore how best you could further develop knowledge or skill in identified areas of interest or work context within supervision. (e.g. case discussion, role play, review of filmed client sessions (with client consent)
Supervisor details
Your supervisor/s must be a Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician or meet the eligibility criteria for the Credential. Your supervisor/s do not have to be from your profession and ANZAED does not require your supervisor to have met specific supervision standards as set by some professions (for example, to be a board approved supervisor for psychologists), however this may help you meet other profession-specific requirements. The supervision you undertake may be used for both the Credential and your profession-specific professional development requirements. It is important that you work with a supervisor experienced in providing eating disorder treatment who can assist you to develop your eating disorder-specific clinical skills and competence.
If you need help finding a supervisor, please contact [email protected]. You can also search for supervisors on the ANZAED member directory, or find group supervision through ANZAED Online Consultation Program.
Record Keeping
You are required to create a personal supervision plan each year, including:
- Your professional learning needs specific to the area of eating disorders treatment.
- A plan for the upcoming year which outlines supervision activities to support your learning and skill development in these areas (e.g. case discussion, role play, formative feedback, etc.), including plans for supervision format (i.e. individual, group, peer). Specific planned dates or times of the planned supervision sessions are not required.
You are required to keep a record of your completed supervision each year, reflecting on what you learnt, how you have progressed against your learning goals, and areas for future exploration within your supervision sessions. Reflecting on your learning will help you set learning goals for the subsequent year as part of the ongoing supervision cycle. Supervision records must be retained for 5 years.
During the annual credentialing period, your compliance with the supervision requirement may be audited. If requested, you will be required to provide ANZAED with documentation of your supervision plan and completed supervision upon request.
Continuing Professional Development
As an ongoing requirement of the Credential, all clinicians must complete a minimum of 15 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) relevant to eating disorders per year.
What is CPD?
CPD is a means by which practitioners maintain, improve, and broaden their knowledge, expertise, and competence throughout their professional careers. CPD should reflect the broad goal of improving patient/client outcomes. Drawing on available evidence, CPD should keep you up-to date with best practice for the treatment of eating disorders to inform your own best practice and decision-making, directly to improving your competence.
Effective CPD promotes learning and the implementation and practice of this learning, and tailored CPD can support competency and relevance in practice. It facilitates effective clinical care, leading to safer outcomes for patients and clients. CPD may be more effective when it involves planning and reflection, taking time to consider your own learning needs, accessing CPD which supports these, and then reflecting on using that new knowledge to improve your practice as an eating disorders treatment provider. The content of CPD should enhance professional knowledge and skill competence.
Planning for your CPD
The Credential requires you to undertake CPD which supports you as a clinician to maintain competence and is relevant to your scope of practice both within your profession and as an eating disorders treatment provider.
Learning and development can occur through a variety of CPD activities, including:
- Workshops and training
- Higher education/accredited courses
- Conferences and forums
- Seminars and webinars
- Reading books and journals relevant to eating disorders treatment
- Observing other treatment teams/internship/shadowing
In planning your CPD for the year, you may find it useful to:
- Undertake a self-assessment to identify possible areas for improvement in order to meet current standards using evidence-based practice or best practice standards
- Discuss your CPD planning with your supervisor, colleagues, and/or mentors to help you identify specific areas of improvement
- Review best practice standards or evidence-based practice (e.g., ANZAED Clinical Practice and Training Standards; RANZCP Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Eating Disorders), enabling you to evaluate and improve your level of competency, treatment plan, or service delivery
- Explore how to further develop knowledge or skill in identified areas of interest or work context across CPD activities
- Identify opportunities for interactive or inter-professional CPD
Record Keeping
You are required to keep a record of your completed CPD activities each year, reflecting on what you learnt, how you have progressed against your learning goals, and how these CPD activities improved your practice. Reflecting on your learning will help you set learning goals for the subsequent year as part of the ongoing supervision cycle. CPD records must be retained for 5 years.
During the annual credentialing period, your compliance with the CPD requirement may be audited. If requested, you will be required to provide ANZAED with documentation of your completed CPD.