Advanced Trauma-Informed Supervision: Supporting Clinicians in High Acuity Settings

NASW-WA Live Webinar

January 15, 2027, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm, PST
via Zoom

6 CE Credits

Presented by Jim Leighty, MSW, LICSW, MSM

Register Now: https://tinyurl.com/3s9e37ud

Price: $175/NASW Members, $225/Non-Members

Webinar Summary:

Supervising clinicians in high acuity settings requires supervisors to manage complex clinical, relational, ethical, and organizational demands while maintaining an effective supervisory stance. This six-hour training provides an advanced, practice-oriented examination of supervision under sustained stress and high clinical complexity.

Participants will examine vicarious trauma and burnout in supervisees, the effects of supervisor stress responses and parallel process, culturally responsive supervision and power dynamics, boundaries and over-functioning, structured decision-making for high-risk situations, and strategies for sustaining effective supervision over time.

The training combines conceptual frameworks with case analysis, self-reflection, skill practice, and application to challenging supervision situations. Participants will develop practical strategies and tools that can be applied to their own supervisory practice.

Goals: Participants will:

1. Strengthen their ability to recognize and respond to the effects of trauma exposure, cumulative stress, and burnout within the supervisory relationship.
2. Develop greater awareness of how supervisor stress responses, relational patterns, and power dynamics influence supervision.
3. Strengthen their ability to apply structured, sustainable approaches to boundaries, risk, ethical decision-making, consultation, and supervisory practice.

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

1. Differentiate vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout and recognize patterns across cognitive, emotional, behavioral, physical, and relational domains that may warrant supervisory attention.
2. Identify personal stress-response patterns and describe how those patterns, including parallel process, may affect supervisory judgment and interactions.
3. Analyze power dynamics and cultural factors within a supervision scenario and identify supervisory responses that support equity and cultural responsiveness.
4. Differentiate supportive supervision from over-functioning and apply boundary-setting strategies that balance support, accountability, and supervisee autonomy.
5. Apply a structured risk-assessment and ethical decision-making framework to a high-risk supervision situation, including identifying risk and protective factors, considering options, determining when consultation or escalation is warranted, and documenting the rationale.
6. Develop a practical sustainability strategy addressing boundaries, consultation, restoration, professional development, and organizational supports for effective supervisory practice over time.

About the presenter: 
Jim Leighty, MSW, LICSW, MSM is a licensed independent clinical social worker, clinical supervisor, trainer, and curriculum developer specializing in trauma-informed, equity-centered supervision and behavioral health workforce development. He holds a Master of Social Work and a Master of Science in Management.
His training experience spans clinical, juvenile justice, and workforce-development settings. While leading ACT teams at Navos and DESC, he developed training in ACT fidelity, crisis intervention, and involuntary commitment across adult and youth-serving settings. He served as curriculum lead for King County Juvenile Detention's Mental Health Training for Juvenile Justice program and is a CPI-certified instructor in nonviolent crisis intervention. He later led statewide training and technical assistance through the Northwest Center for Family Support at the UW School of Social Work, developing site-specific adaptations and facilitator resources grounded in adult learning principles.
As an independent trainer and consultant, Jim works with behavioral health clinicians, supervisors, and organizations. Before entering behavioral health, he spent 20 years building and leading teams in the Marine Corps, experience that continues to shape his approach to leadership and team development.
His work centers on helping supervisors build sound clinical judgment, maintain effective boundaries, and develop sustainable teams in demanding environments.