Reflective Supervision and Infant Mental Health

Identifies Reflective Supervision “Active Ingredients” Qualities

The Reflective Interaction Observation Scale (RIOS) assesses how well a supervisory session demonstrates a reflective process grounded in infant mental health theory and practice. The RIOS describes the content and characteristics of supervisor-supervisee interactions at a given moment in time by identifying “active ingredients” in a reflective supervision session that set it apart from administrative supervision and other forms of relationship-based professional development (e.g., coaching, mentoring and traditional clinical supervision). The active ingredients are these five Essential Elements:

1. Understanding the Family Story
2. Holding the Baby in Mind
3. Parallel Process
4. Professional Use of Self
5. Reflective Alliance

A reflective supervisory session is divided into 15 minute segments (for coding purposes) and the RIOS can code live or recorded (audio or video) sessions.

The RIOS assessment is available for non-profit research use. Please contact the RIOS group for more information.

Distinctive Reflective Processes Indicators

The first four Essential Elements focus on supervisory session content and are evidenced by five distinctive reflective processes. These processes are referred to as “Collaborative Tasks,” and include:

• Describing
• Responding
• Exploring
• Linking
• Integrating

Indicators for each task offer examples of specific, concrete ways in which the pair pays attention to the content of the conversation. The fifth Element, Reflective Alliance, is coded on a 1 – 5 scale to capture the way in which the pair uses their relationship to deepen their understanding of the work.

BENEFITS AND FEATURES:

• Measures how well a supervisory session demonstrates a reflective process grounded in infant mental health theory and practice
• Identifies unique “active ingredients” of reflective supervision
• Assesses distinctive reflective processes
• Codes live or recorded (audio or video) sessions
• Assesses supervisor-supervisee interactions unique to reflective supervision/consultation in infant mental health practice

APPLICATIONS:

• Infant mental health practice
• Supervisory evaluation
• Assessments

Phase of Development – license available for non-profit research. Please contact the RIOS group for more information.