Clinical Supervision in South Africa

In this publication, an ecological, relational framework to support practitioners i. e. Masters’ level Psychologists/Social Workers/Health Professionals, Interns navigate 21st century challenges and opportunities in the provision of mental health care services at various institutions in developing countries such as South Africa is discussed. With an increased uptake of mental health care services in recent times and the advent of teletherapy to make these services more accessible, health care professionals have had to also reconcile working within institutional structures that place challenges and pressures. Psychologists and Health Professionals employed in various governmental institutions such as health and higher education have also been subject to multiple competing demands that increase the risk of compassion fatigue and burnout. Reference is made to research that has demonstrated that burnout arises from multiple institutional, professional and personal factors, including healthprofessional’s belief’s and coping.​

Kamilla V. Rawatlal is a Counselling Psychologist and Lecturer. She graduated with a PhD in the field of Counselling Psychology and she is currently employed as the Programme Manager for the Master’s in Counselling Psychology programme at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. The contents of this publication draws from her several years of practice, clinical supervision and lecturing experience at both higher education institutions and within health care systems. A need to provide a systematic method/approach to better support trainee health professionals navigate contemporary practice realities as well as the need to acknowledge the diverse and multi-cultural South African context that trainees are compelled to assume multiple roles in provides the impetus for this the book. It is also envisaged that Clinical supervisors will also glean insight from this publication to further inform research and practice in resource limited contexts.