Description

ACA FDV-Informed Practice Supervision

Dates: 26 and 27 October 2026
Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm each day
Delivery: Online via Microsoft Teams
Duration: Two half-day sessions (6 hours total)

This one-day professional development program equips supervisors with the knowledge, skills and reflective practice approaches required to provide effective, family and domestic violence (FDV)-informed supervision. Designed for ACA Registered Supervisors and experienced practitioners, the course explores how to safely support supervisees working with victim-survivors and people using violence while strengthening reflective practice, ethical decision-making, practitioner wellbeing and service quality.

Grounded in contemporary FDV practice and aligned with the Best Practice Supervision Guidelines: Family Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Wellbeing, participants will apply evidence-informed supervision models to build confidence in navigating complexity, managing risk and fostering culturally responsive, trauma-informed supervision.

Session 1 (3 Hours): Foundations of FDV-Informed Clinical Supervision

Develop an understanding of the supervisor's role in supporting safe, ethical and reflective practice when working with family and domestic violence. Participants will explore contemporary FDV dynamics, coercive control, trauma-informed supervision, vicarious trauma, and the use of reflective supervision frameworks to strengthen clinical judgement and professional development.

Learning areas include:

• The purpose and principles of FDV-informed supervision.
• Understanding coercive control, trauma and their impact on practice.
• The supervisor's role in risk awareness, ethical decision-making and practitioner wellbeing.
• Applying Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle to deepen reflective learning.
• Using Gibbs' Reflective Cycle to facilitate critical reflection and professional growth.
• Creating psychologically safe supervision environments that support curiosity, accountability and learning.

Session 2 (3 Hours): Therapeutic Supervision, Risk Conversations and Complex Practice

Strengthen advanced supervision skills for supporting practitioners working with complex family and domestic violence presentations. Participants will explore therapeutic supervision approaches that encourage critical thinking, collaborative risk formulation and culturally responsive practice while maintaining professional boundaries and managing uncertainty.

Learning areas include:

• Applying the Safe Uncertainty Framework to navigate complexity and avoid fixed assumptions.
• Using the Social GRACES Model to recognise power, identity, culture and intersectionality within supervision conversations.
• Supervising practitioners responding to victim-survivors and people using violence.
• Supporting reflective discussions around risk assessment, safety planning and professional judgement.
• Managing parallel process, practitioner wellbeing, vicarious trauma and moral distress.
• Integrating reflective supervision models into everyday supervisory practice through case discussions and skills application.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Apply evidence-informed supervision approaches to support practitioners responding to family and domestic violence.
• Integrate trauma-informed, culturally responsive and ethically grounded supervision practices.
• Facilitate reflective supervision using Gibbs' Reflective Cycle and Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle.
• Apply the Safe Uncertainty Framework and Social GRACES Model to enhance critical reflection, cultural responsiveness and therapeutic engagement.
• Support supervisees to identify, formulate and respond to family and domestic violence risk while maintaining appropriate professional boundaries.
• Recognise and respond to vicarious trauma, burnout and wellbeing considerations within supervision.
• Foster psychologically safe supervision relationships that strengthen practitioner capability, confidence and service quality.

Prerequisites

This professional development training is suitable for ACA accredited supervisors, as well as experienced practitioners in supervisory or leadership roles across disciplines including counselling, psychology and social work who are seeking to develop their FDV informed supervision practice.