ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the central issues that arise within supervision when working with survivors of abuse, such as power dynamics, intergenerational trauma, and gender-based violence. Powerlessness and lack of control are at the very root of traumatic experiences for survivors of abuse; there is a need for a model of supervision that weaves an understanding of the importance of power dynamics, and how this connects with feelings of safety and trust. Survivors of abuse may present with behaviour that is compliant, some may struggle with a need for control or oscillate between these. It is critical to understand how power dynamics impact the lived experiences of survivors of abuse, through their interpersonal relationships, their experiences of wider social injustices and oppression, and their intergenerational history. This requires self-reflexive practices on the part of the supervisor and supervisee on their own relationship to power and injustice. This chapter is a call for a model of supervision that goes beyond the therapy room, or the supervision room, one that considers the structures and systems that condone and perpetuate abuse; a model that addresses gender-based violence, as well as the othering of gender-based violence and the further marginalisation of communities that are already marginalised; a model that understands the impact of intergenerational trauma.
