We know the work that Content Moderators do is hard. Reviewing potentially egregious content and determining whether it violates the platform policies in a high-pressure environment is a difficult role.
To ensure the protection of psychological health and safety, most people we talk to in Trust & Safety recognize that they need to provide the best Content Moderation health support possible.
Recent successful legal challenges by groups of Content Moderators against their employer and the online platform that they were moderating content for have shown the potential financial and reputation risk that both companies can experience.
Specialist Support for Content Moderators
We provide a robust, clinically led support service for Content Moderators and we focus on several requirements when we hire our Wellbeing Specialists. They need to be accredited mental health professionals, they need to be educated to a Master’s level education and ideally have a minimum of three years’ clinical experience.
It is rare we can find people with extensive Trust and Safety content moderation experience, so we ensure any new Wellbeing Specialists are given a robust education of what to expect in their work. This helps ensure that our end-clients (your employees) are provided with the best support available.
6 Ways Clinical Supervision Protects Our Wellbeing Specialists
Regular clinical supervision is critical to ensure the safety of our Wellbeing Specialists. Anyone familiar with psychologists and other mental health professionals knows that having in-built supervision is an important aspect of the profession.
In-built supervision helps protect the end client and therapist, ensuring ongoing personal and professional development – critical when managing the mental health of others.
Regular supervision is imperative in psychology and psychotherapy due to 6 very important reasons we’ll explore below.
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Mental Health Risk Assessments
Supervision provides a space for therapists to discuss their cases with a more experienced professional. This oversight ensures that therapeutic interventions are appropriate and effective, reducing the risk of harm to clients.
Zevo’s clinical supervisors have experience working with Content Moderators and understand the likely issues that our Wellbeing Specialists would need to raise.
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Building Resilience for Moderators
Therapists, like any professionals, benefit from ongoing skill development. Supervision offers an opportunity to receive feedback on therapeutic techniques, explore new interventions, and refine existing skills.
We are constantly working on new interventions and innovative ways to support moderation teams and workplace wellbeing for content moderators.
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Supporting Emotional Wellbeing
Dealing with clients’ emotional struggles and challenging situations can take a toll on therapists. There is a risk of secondary traumatic stress or vicarious trauma in mental health service provision.
Supervision provides a supportive environment where therapists can process their own emotions, preventing burnout and compassion fatigue. Our supervisors know the type of counselling support for content moderators that will likely be needed by our Wellbeing Specialists, ensuring their well-being is protected.
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Ethical Guidance
Ethical dilemmas are common in therapy, and supervision helps therapists navigate these complex issues. By discussing ethical considerations with a supervisor, therapists can ensure that they uphold the highest ethical standards in their practice, which is critical for maintaining content moderator mental health.
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Cultural Awareness in Moderation
Clients come from diverse backgrounds, and cultural sensitivity is crucial in therapy. Supervision allows therapists to reflect on their own biases and assumptions, ensuring that they provide culturally competent care to all clients.
We deal with therapy clients from all over the world, in multiple languages. Having a strong awareness of potential cultural biases is key to providing a supportive and helpful therapeutic environment that enhances the emotional wellness for online moderators.
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Professional Accountability
Supervision promotes accountability in therapy practice. By reviewing cases and discussing interventions with a supervisor, therapists can ensure that they are providing the best possible care to their clients and adhering to professional standards.
Many of our Wellbeing Specialists deal with crisis interventions when something exceptional happens on a platform, or when an individual is experiencing significant distress including thoughts of self-harm and suicide.
Protecting Mental Health Through Clinical Supervision
Ensuring online safety and wellbeing of each of our clients is our top priority at Zevo Health. We have a well-rehearsed, evidence-based procedure to tackle these issues, with key responsibilities and after-hours support for all stakeholders involved.
Clinical supervision plays a vital role in supporting our Wellbeing Specialists, which in turn protects your employees.
Through supervision, therapists can enhance their understanding of the Content Moderation environment, address vicarious trauma and ethical dilemmas, promote cultural competence, and foster collaboration to effectively support content moderator mental health and resilience.
