Psychology Supervisor Connect and Reflect: The Invisible Load - Addressing Work Related Trauma in Supervision

The Victorian Collaborative Centre’s Psychology Supervisor Connect and Reflect series is designed to support endorsed psychology supervisors in enhancing their clinical supervision practice. Each session explores a key topic related to clinical supervision, offers valuable insights, and provides practical strategies to strengthen supervisory relationships and outcomes.

This session supports psychology supervisors to recognise and respond to the often unseen impact of work-related trauma on supervisees. Through a practical and reflective lens, participants will explore how compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma emerge in clinical practice, and how these experiences can influence professional wellbeing.

The session introduces the Professional Quality of Life Tool (ProQOL) as a structured way to guide supportive supervision conversations and includes opportunities for applied discussion, reflection, and shared learning. Supervisors will leave with simple, effective strategies to help supervisees bring their awareness to the invisible load and to strengthen psychologically safe, trauma-aware supervision.

Learning outcomes:

• Understand and differentiate compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious trauma.

• Recognise key risk factors and warning signs that a supervisee may be impacted by work-related trauma.

• Use the ProQOL tool in supervision to support supervisee wellbeing.

Presenter:

Dr Julia Nicholls is a clinical psychology educator at Alfred Care Group – Bayside Health, with over a decade of experience working across diverse presentations in public mental health. She is passionate about delivering meaningful education and providing supervision to psychologists at all stages of their careers. Julia has a particular interest in psychotic disorders, where she continue contribute to research and training.

Eligibility criteria:

This session is open to Endorsed Psychology Supervisors in Victorian public health settings.