Running head: SUPERVISOR INTERVIEW 1

Practicum Supervisor Interview

Vanessa Knelsen

CYC 310

Mandeep Mucina

October 6th, 2017

SUPERVISOR INTERVIEW 2

Practicum Supervisor Interview

1. How long have you been working in the helping profession? Why did you pursue

this career?

Julie has been working in different areas of the helping profession for many years. She said

that technically speaking she has been working in the helping profession as a babysitter since she

was 12 and did that for around 5 years. After that she volunteered at the Crisis Centre answering

the crisis line for a year. Julie pursued this career because she never wanted a desk job, she

wanted to do something where she gave back to the community. She said she wanted her job to

be exciting, as well as make an overall difference to the youth in her care. Also Julie’s ultimate

goal is to get into law enforcement, where she knows she is going to deal with at risk youth, so

having the understanding and experience working with the youth at IDM will inform her work as

a future police officer.

2. How long have you been working at IDM Youth Services?

Julie has been working at IDM Youth Services for 9 months, but is in a new manger position

at the IDM house location.

3. How would you describe your practice framework? What are some theories that

you use often in your work?

Julie said that for these particular youth, she comes from the framework that it is their house

first, so she comes from a place where she is the outside person coming in to their home. She

likes to come in as a person who is not in charge necessarily, but someone who is there to

facilitate a nice lifestyle. She likes to come in from a non-authoritative standpoint, and try to be

equal to them by walking alongside them instead of commanding them to do things. Julie uses

non-violent and non-authoritative theories in her practice often, as well as a restorative theory
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where she does not punish for mistakes but instead collaborate with the youth to help them in the

future.

4. How do you integrate IDM’s trauma informed, strength based, and restorative

philosophies into your personal practice?

Julie integrates IDM’s philosophies into her personal practice by being as informed on each

youth’s trauma as much as she can, and by treating every youth as different identities. She

believes that changing her practice according to every youth is very important, because not one

youth you can be treated the same based on their past trauma being all different. Being informed

on each youth’s trauma and adjusting her practice accordingly is her key to integrating IDM’s

philosophies into her personal practice with every youth she comes into contact with.

5. What are some core values that have developed throughout your career?

The most important values that Julie has developed is to treat each youth with dignity and

respect. Another value that she holds as very important is to never hold past actions against them,

and to never change her own behavior based on their escalations. She also believes that she

should treat the youth as equals as much as possible by making them feel heard and valuable.

6. When you are dealing with an incident in the home, how do you make ethical

decisions quickly?

Julie says that the training all staff receive is so important when dealing with incidents

ethically. They all receive non-violent training before working at the resources, and it is greatly

enforced in all staff’s practice. She also says that seeing the incident outside of the actual

incident is very important. By this she means that she looks at the behaviors they are betraying

and she figures out the need that the youth wants to be met. She says that there is always a reason

behind a behavior, and often that reason is that the youth wants one of their needs met. She says
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by separating the incident from the fact that the youth has a need that they want met is a good

way to make an ethical decision. Although she always wants to think about the particular youth

who is acting out, at the end of the day the safety of herself and the other youth comes first in all

decision making. She stressed the importance of having police involvement when necessary, and

also knowing her own personal limits as well so that she can swamp with another staff if need

be. By doing all these things, Julie is not put in a situation where she might compromise her

ethical believes.

7. How do you work effectively with coworkers whose beliefs and values differ from

yours?

She says it is always important to acknowledge that every person is different from you, but at

the end of the day it is necessary to be on the same page as them with the non-violent approach.

Although everybody’s values are important, coming into the IDM company you must integrate

their values into your practice first. She says that she keeps her values to the side, because staff

are not there to parent or instill values into the youth in their care. She also says staff should

always have open communication and model what healthy relationships look like for the youth in

care.

8. How do you promote a positive working environment where all staff feel

empowered?

Acknowledge when staff do positive things, make each staff feel important and worthwhile,

delegating tasks to all staff so they feel part of the whole, be open and honest with all things that

go on in the house, model positive behavior, encourage all staff to take breaks when necessary,

etc.
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9. How do you leave work behind when you get off shift?

Julie always exercises when she gets off her 72 hour shift on Sunday morning, and she

gets out any frustration that she might have from her shift. If there is any serious incident that

happens on her shift, she will debrief with coworkers or senior managers before leaving

work. This lets her completely reset for her days off of work.

10. How do you create a stable environment for the youth in your care?

Consistency with the other staff members is what creates a stable environment for the

youth in the home. For the staff that are on completely opposite shifts it is important to have

really good communication so that all staff can know everything that is going on in the

youth’s lives; this gives the youth stability knowing that staff is always aware of what is

going on. If any of the youth sees that a staff member does not know what is going on, they

will feel like they are not in a stable environment.

11. How do you deal with frustration when working with the youth?

Again, looking at their behavior beyond their behavior. What need are they trying to get

met? Also knowing when to swap out with another staff member when starting to feel

frustrated, because it is not fair to take personal problems into the work space. She also said

that it is so important to take the necessary breaks during the shift and take time for self-care

so that frustration will not come as easily.

12. From your experience working at IDM, what are some of the best activities that

facilitate therapeutic bonding with the youth?

In general, going for drives is very effective to create a soothing environment for the

youth so that they can have the tougher conversations they may not have anywhere else.
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13. For my final project I have to do a legacy project for the house or agency. Is there

some project or task that I can do that would support and assist the clients and/or

agency?

Julie and I discussed a few ideas for my legacy project. I think the one I am most

interested in is making a life skills binder for the youth aging out. It could include life skills

such as: how to create resumes and cover letters, how to do taxes, how to apply for housing,

rental agreements, step by step on how to fill out a job application, how to find your social

insurance number, etc. This binder could also include therapeutic activities that could teach

certain life skills.