“Do that scale again.” “Do that fingering transition again.” “Let me hear that again.” Even if the scale was correct, it had to be done…again. As a novice musician, the word, “again,” became synonymous with repetitive practice. Practice for the sake of practice, because practice makes perfect. I (voice of 3rd author; true story) had […]
Have you ever seen anyone else doing supervision—except your own? Whenever I am giving a workshop on clinical supervision to psychotherapy supervisors, I ask if any of them have every seen another psychologist supervising a trainee, let along watched a master supervisor doing so. On every occasion, only a few hands go up. Although clinical […]
Counseling psychology has demonstrated a long-standing interest and respect for clinical supervision as a unique domain that warrants its own preparation for practice. Counseling psychologists have distinguished themselves in the supervision literature (e.g., Borders et al., 1991; Goodyear et al., 2000), and counseling psychology programs have been much more likely than clinical and school psychology […]
Clinical supervision has changed dramatically in the past decade. First came the recognition that clinical supervision is a distinct professional practice that requires specific training. This represented a critical change from the previously unspoken assumption that all supervisors were, by virtue of their status, competent—an assumption that elicited strong emotional responses from both supervisees and […]
In the Fall 2015 semester we completed a graduate course in clinical supervision. We discussed the purpose of clinical supervision, ethical and legal issues, theoretical models, countertransference and interpersonal variables impacting supervision, evaluation and feedback, how to build specific trainee skills, working with impaired trainees, and supervisor self-care. A frequent reaction for all of us (including […]
There are several sources of this conflict or dilemma. As they learn to do the work of what Freud (1937) termed an “impossible profession” (p. 401), beginning therapists are typically beset with multiple stressors, including a greater awareness of their own personal issues; the myriad of difficulties and frustrations inherent to treatment per se; the […]
In my supervision practice, I work with doctoral students at the beginning of their work as therapists. These students have either had no therapeutic experience or limited experience. As Chessick (1971) indicated, three critical issues often confront therapists in their shift from classroom to clinic: (a) learning to manage anxiety early on during the treatment […]
In recent years there has been growing emphasis on training and supervision methods that demonstrably improve therapist competencies and client outcomes. Right now, I'm supervising a particular trainee who is facing challenging circumstances with a particular case. I wonder whether it would be helpful to sit in on the next session to provide support and […]
Taline Andonian Asks As graduate students we receive training not only in academia but in a myriad of different clinical settings, which often lead to a wide range of experiences in terms of supervision. Because of the emphasis that is placed on clinical/practical training for clinical psychology programs in particular a graduate student’s competencies are […]
Supervision is a fact of life for most of us. We experience years of supervision in our professional training sequence and possibly afterward, and many of us move on to becoming supervisors of other professionals. In their classic text, Coping with Conflict, Mueller and Kell (1972), some of the earliest writers in the field of […]