Clinical Supervision > Chapter 4 - THE SUPERVISOR: PART 2

Chapter 4: THE SUPERVISOR : PART 2


Goals of a Supervisor

Probably every supervisor has her own set of goals. And there are most likely a lot of similarities between these lists. Five primary goals might be to help the supervisee:

  • Integrate the parts of the therapeutic process: professional and personal boundaries; limitations and potentials in counseling; thoughts, feelings and beliefs of both counselor and client; and use of intuition.
  • Develop their own principles of good professional practice, based on a healthy perception of ethical principles. This leads to refining their conscious considerations of the process and their decision making while moderating therapeutic change.
  • Develop belief in himself as a professional and a heightened ability to act independently in their work, while also knowing when and where to consult on matters they want to analyze with another professional (Hawkins & Shohet, 1989).
  • Recognize, explore and develop their own particular therapeutic style, including the context of their own experiences-- past and present.The "art of therapy" includes counseling style as much as therapeutic interventions. Style and interventions have differing emphasis, but they're inseparably linked.
  • Explore different ways of understanding and aiding with specific client issues--developing deeper understanding of the clients and assisting in setting appropriate goals. In general, forming goals requires aid in education, motivation and evaluation (Cormier & Hackney, 1999); counselors who set goals appear to work more efficiently and effectively (Rawson, 2003).


[QN.No.#12. Supervisor's goals do NOT include: ]

A crucial first step, and therefore first goal, in the supervisory process is to establish an alliance between the supervisor and supervisee in which shared goals and methods for achieving them are jointly developed, hopefully with a resultant emotional bond (Bordin, 1983). The more clearly the expectations of this supervisory alliance are set forth, the more successful the alliance will be. Through the following interactions, the set of goals that are developed are appropriate for the supervisee's developmental level and specific to the context in which the supervision takes place.

Once the goals are established, distinct methods are planned for reaching the goals. The emotional bond is developed and strengthened through the process of forming the goals and methods.Examples of the kinds of goals this planning might define are (Fallender, 2010):

For therapeutic interventions with children and young people, improve skills in setting limits

  • Focusing on process, cultivate group therapy skills
  • Increase confidence in leading groups of young people (or adults) with (problem name)
  • Develop skills in a (less familiar) intervention such as evidence-based treatment
  • Strengthen knowledge and skills in assessing child abuse
  • Acquire a fuller sense of his contribution to and role in the therapy process

Examples of possible tasks for meeting those goes are:
  • Observe other groups of the same population in the same or similar setting
  • Be co-therapist in another process-oriented group
  • Videotape a group for individuals with (problem name) and analyze it in supervision
  • Think about different theoretical perspectives and how process may be brought into play
  • Carry out co-therapy with supervisor to develop skills in group or family therapy
  • Have supervision specifically targeted to group therapy skills
Another very concrete goal is to develop a supervisory agreement or contract between yourself and your supervisee. This agreement is a very important part of the relationship between the two of you. It defines the roles, expectations, responsibilities and requirements of both the supervisor and the supervisee during the training period and may be translated into an example for assessment. Each supervisor-supervisee relationship and the pertinent will have its own unique competencies, evaluations and other criteria, and thus each supervisory agreement must be tailored to meet those individual needs. The contract may include (Falender, 2010):

  • Time and length of supervision
  • Scope of practice, i.e., permitted actions, procedures, and processes
  • Requirements, rules, laws, and regulations of the agency
  • Supervisor's role
    • Frequency, time and length of supervision sessions
    • Policy for cancelling a supervision session by either party
    • Procedures for emergencies or crisis situations
      • Definition of what constitutes an emergency or crisis
      • State reporting laws and duty to warn
      • Procedures to contact a supervisor or an on-call therapist
      • Steps to take once an emergency or crisis has been identified
    • Who to contact when supervisor is on vacation, etc.
    • Limits of confidentiality in supervisory information exchange
    • Variety of roles of the supervisor (e.g., supervisor, training director, program director) and the supervisee (e.g., supervisee, therapist or social worker) and potential role conflicts
    • Theoretical models of supervision and therapy that will be used
    • Supervisor training and experience
    • Supervisor's areas of expertise
    • Supervisor's methodology
      • Specific techniques commonly used
      • Expectations
      • Type of supervision used, such as live or with video/audio
  • Mutual role
    • Mutually determined training goals and task for the supervisory experience
  • Supervisee's role
    • Responsibilities
    • Attendance
    • Record keeping/documentation
    • Productivity
    • Clinical caseload
      • Number of hours
      • Variety
      • Diversity variables between supervisor, supervisee and clients
      • Required limits
    • Seminars, required and optional
    • Theoretical orientation and how it may relate to the supervisor's theoretical orientation
    • Expected forming of diagnoses, including diversity or multicultural conceptions
    • Specific expectations of performance
      • Competence
      • Interpersonal and relationship skills
      • Teamwork
      • Emotional awareness
      • Limits of independence
      • Competence with diversity issues
      • Technical skills

Questions to Ask Yourself

At the beginning of your "supervisorship" and at intervals from thereon, it's a good idea to make a workbook to accomplish several things:
  • To develop and update your clinical supervision philosophy. To help in this, some of the scores of questions you can ask yourself might be (Martin and Cannon, 2010):
    • What is my definition of good clinical supervision?
    • What role do I prefer to play as a supervisor?
    • What resources (mentors, books, articles, records of my supervision) do I have access to, to help me define my concept of clinical supervision?
    • How should I express my supervision approach to my supervisees?
    • How can I best see where my clinical supervision is most effective, and where it's least effective?
    • Am I vulnerable to any professional ethical issues in my supervision approach? If so, which one(s)?
    • Which problems of clients draw me? Does this aid or inhibit good clinical supervision? To what degree?
    • Which populations of clients draw me? Does this aid or inhibit good clinical supervision? To what degree?
    • How do I take care of my supervisees' clinical weaknesses?
    • How do I take care of my supervisees' clinical strengths?
    • How do I recognize my supervisees' progress?
    • How do I keep track of my supervisees' progress?
    • How do I articulate evaluations of my supervisees clearly and thoroughly?
    • How can I make sure that my supervision reasonably matches the needs of my supervisee?
  • To help focus your supervision concerns primarily on the supervisee and secondarily on the client(s) there are other kinds of questions to ask (Cole, 2001):
    • What are my logistics for supervisory meetings?
    • What are my goals for each supervisee?
    • How do I balance a commitment to train and supervise therapists, the need for my supervisees to do their jobs, and a need to be of service to my community?
    • What are some of my general training issues that are central to my supervision?
    • How do I respond to differing degrees of supervisee enthusiasm?
    • Am I committed to improving my own skills?
    • What do I need to do to further develop my supervisor methods?
    • Do I know and practice the difference between supervision and training?
    • Should a case the supervisee can't cope with be transferred to me?
    • Are differences in sex or age of the supervisee and me likely to be a problem in supervision?
    • Do I use a variety of methods in supervision (live, audio/video, etc.)? or do I use several of the modes that are available in our agency?
    • Are my supervisee and myself having any relationship issues, especially any that may be on the edge of ethical or legal guidelines?

More on Developing Your Supervisory Philosophy and Acumen

What clinical supervision is has already been discussed in detail. The definition may be summarized as "the process of training another clinician to function effectively" (Martin and Cannon, 2010).

It's often assumed that if an individual is a good counselor, he will be a good clinical supervisor. Regrettably, this is probably not the case. Although an essential prerequisite for being a supervisor is experience in clinical work, it's not enough.

Bernard and Goodyear (2004), in their classic clinical supervision text, differentiate between models of supervision that are based on a theory or theories of psychotherapy and those based on a developmental model of supervision.

Even though breaking down the components of concepts may be a needed and commendable practice, it does not comply with a clinical supervisor's responsibility. A clinical supervision philosophy might start with analyzing concepts, but that should be only a small part of it.

A primary obligation of a clinical supervisor is to discuss her personal and professional approach to clinical supervision with the supervisee. This is necessary, in part, as exemplified in the case of a supervisor who is oriented to psychodynamic therapy but is supervising an individual who is oriented to cognitive therapy. The supervisor may be closely connected with a particular theory of therapy, but must still be able to aid a supervisee who is following a very different theory. As a supervisor, you must have a sound understanding of and experience in therapy, but in the supervisory role you must be more effective in your relationship with your supervisees than in carrying out the responsibilities of a therapist.

To move yourself into this role, you might ask yourself the following questions:

  • What do I believe about conducting therapy?
  • What do I believe about clinical supervision?
  • What is my model of clinical supervision?
  • What do I hope to accomplish through clinical supervision?
  • What is the role of the supervisor?
  • What is the role of the supervisee?
  • What kind of relationship do I want to develop with supervisees?
  • How do I define the good clinical supervisor?
  • What attributes--personal and profession --do I have that will aid in effective clinical supervision?
  • What are the ethically sensitive issues that I am likely to encounter in conducting clinical supervision? (Martin and Canon, 2010)

[QN.No.#13. What questions does a supervisor need to ask to aid in developing his supervisory philosophy?]


When you're clear about the answers to questions like these, you'll be in a position to define a clinical supervision philosophy that encases your beliefs about supervision. These beliefs will arise from your thoughts, and from your experiences as a therapist, as one who has received clinical supervision, and an understanding of clinical supervision based on careful study. These beliefs will include--among other things--what you believe about people, about how they change and develop, and how therapy works.

Although years of carrying out clinical services is generally required before an individual is deemed capable of becoming a supervisor, McMahon and Simons (2004) believe there is a satisfactory substitute. That is clinical supervision training that includes a doctoral program in counselor supervision and education. They report that this has been shown to prepare able clinical supervisors.

Models of Supervision

The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (2009a) states that it's vital for supervisors to work from a supervision model that is clearly defined and that provides a meaning and purpose for your role as supervisor. Different writers divide the models in different ways. For obvious reasons, none of them includes all of the possible models of supervision; examples of divisions include:

K. L. Smith (2009) gives the following groupings:
  • Psycho-therapy based models of supervision
    • Psychodynamic approach to supervision
      • Patient-centered
      • Supervisee-centered
      • Supervisory-matrix-centered
    • Feminist model of supervision
    • Person-centered supervision
  • Developmental models of supervision
    • Integrated development model
    • Developmental phase model
  • Integrative models of supervision
    • Discrimination model
    • Systems approach
The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (2009a) divides the models into four basic kinds:
  • Competency-based models
    • Microcounseling
    • Discrimination
    • Task-oriented
  • Treatment-based models
    • Motivational interviewing
    • Cognitive behavior
    • Psychodynamic psychotherapy
  • Developmental approaches
    • Supervisee development
    • Supervisor development
  • Integrated models
According to M. K. Smith (1996, 2005), Kadushin offers three models:

  • Administrative or authoritative model
  • Educational model
  • Supportive or facilitative model
Others add other models to this list:
  • Bureaucratic model
  • Laissez-faire model
A grouping given by Fallender (2010) overlaps these at several points:
  • Theory-based models
    • Psychodynamic
    • Cognitive-behavioral
    • Narrative/intersubjective Systemic models
  • Developmental models
    • Supervisee development
    • Supervisor development
  • Process-oriented and other models
    • Miocrocounseling
    • Dialectical behavioral
    • Interpersonal process recall
    • Seven-eyed supervisor model


For the purpose of combining these into one discussion, these approaches will be regrouped and integrated in perhaps unorthodox and certainly in unofficial ways in the following sections.

Functional Approaches to Supervision

When defining supervision and discussing the role of a supervisor, we were basically looking at the functions and focus of supervision. Among the different questions that arise when we do this is, "Whose interest is focused on in supervision?"

Four focuses are each addressed at different times in supervision, according to Rodenhauser, et al. (1985). These four focuses are: 1) organization and professional, 2) planning and assessment, 3) implementation, and 4) personal elements. Smith (1996, 2005) refers to three models of or approaches to supervision developed by Kadushin (1992) that, between them, address these and other issues (Smith, 1996, 2005). Several of the approaches are to be used in tandem, not alone.

[QN.No.#14: Functional Approaches to Supervision look at the functions and focus of supervision. They include the following models:]

Administrative or Authoritative Model

The focus of the administrative model of supervision is the proper employment of policies and procedures of the agency. "Proper" employment includes accurate, productive and suitable implementation of them. Some feel that the goal of this model is to make sure that the supervisee exactly follows the procedures and policies, thus allowing her to work at their best level (Brown and Bourne, 1995).

Grasha (2002) states that the "expert and formal authority" style's main goal is to ensure that the supervisee is thoroughly prepared through having sufficient information. He believes that supervisees who find it more difficult to work independently, take initiative, and accept responsibility would most benefit from this approach. However, he also believes that this is not the best way to build a good relationship. Malone (2009) believe this approach does not allow much independent thought and can cause a passive-aggressive response as an attempt to equalize the power structure. However, this approach may be dictated in emergencies and situations that put unforeseen demands on the supervisee.

Bureaucratic Model

Closely related to the authoritarian model is the bureaucratic model. In this style or model, the supervisor is basically only looking after him- or her-self and may not back up the supervisee. This can lead to uncertainty and distrust. Supervisees will likely take no risks and will squelch their creativity, fearing that if they make a mistake, they may be "thrown under the bus. " This approach also violates supervisory ethical codes which state that the responsibilities of the supervisor include watching out for the supervisees' wellbeing (Malone, 2009).

Laissez-Faire Model

At the other extreme of supervisory models is the laissez-faire model, which is just as unethical as the bureaucratic model. In this model, the supervisor exudes a "whatever," passive attitude and generates no confidence in the supervisee. The model lacks direction, objectives, and goals. The supervisee can never be sure what the "right thing" to do is (Malone, 2009).

Educational Model

Because on many levels supervisees may lack in necessary knowledge, skills or attitude to do their work well, the educational model of supervision is to correct these lacks. Through encouraging exploration of and reflection on their job, the goal is to aid the supervisee to:
  • Better understand the client
  • Become conscious of their responses and reactions to the client
  • Make sense of the dynamics of the interactions between them and the client
  • Analyze what their interventions were and the consequences of them
  • Investigate different ways they can work with specific client situations (Hawkins and Shohet, 1989)

Supportive or Facilitative Model

The primary goal of the supportive approach is to boost the supervisee's job satisfaction and morale. In this approach, the supervisor is aware that supervisees must cope with different stresses that are job-related and could severely influence how they work with their clients, resulting in unsatisfactory service to the clients. Additionally, the supervisee could become "burned out."

Therefore the supervisor does whatever she can to prevent or reduce possibly stressful situations, remove the supervisee from stress, and aid him to adapt to stress. In the process, the supervisor is to be approachable and available, express confidence in the supervisee--even excusing failure if it's fitting, authorize and share responsibility for various decisions, give perspective and opportunities for the supervisee to function independently in situations that will likely be successful for him (Kadushin, 1992).

This approach to supervision uses teaching, counseling, coaching, and discipline as needed during the period of supervision. A non-judgmental and safe environment is given, and an effective relationship between the supervisor and supervisee is built. Supervisees are at liberty to explore and develop both the science aspect and the art aspect of clinical work (Malone, 2009).

Competency-Based Approaches to Supervision

Competency-based approaches to supervision primarily target the supervisee's skills and learning needs. This results in setting goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely). Strategies are planned and implemented to accomplish the goals. The basic strategies are role playing, modeling role reversal, demonstrations, teaching, counseling, and consulting (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2009a).

[QN.No.#15. Competency-Based Approaches to Supervision target the supervisee's skills and learning needs. They include the following models:]

Discrimination Model

The Discrimination Model, defined by Bernard (1997), offers three focuses for supervision (intervention, conceptualization, personalization) to be used in three supervisor roles (teacher, counselor, consultant). This means that a supervisor, in any given situation, would have nine potential ways to respond (three focuses times three roles). As an example, if the supervisor and supervisee are discussing an intervention the supervisee did, the supervisor could:
  • Be a teacher while focusing on the intervention
  • Be a counselor while focusing on the supervisee's conceptualization of the intervention
  • Etc.

The response given is to be chosen according to the supervisee's specific needs, so it will be different at different times. The supervisor must first evaluate the ability of the supervisee in the focus area, and then choose the best role to use in his response. The trick for the supervisor is to not respond from the same role or focus because of personal preference, habit, or comfort, but to meet the most prominent needs of the supervisee at that moment (Bernard and Goodyear, 2009).

Task-Oriented Model

Meade and Crane (1978) explain that task-oriented supervision is taken from two areas: behavioral models and computer sciences. Categories of essential tasks were derived from computer science, especially expert systems, that are not specific to any theory. Behavioral variables are maneuvered to affect the outcome of supervision; this, in turn, determines the behaviors of both the supervisee and supervisor. In order to develop more effective counselors, the task-oriented supervisor will reinforce the variables of the counselor's behavior.

Meade described the supervisory process as "an experienced therapist safeguarding the welfare of clients by monitoring a less experienced therapist's performance with the clients in a clinical setting with the intent to change the therapist's behavior to resemble that of an experienced expert therapist" (Mead, 1990). In this model, the basic knowledge and skills necessary to carry out clinical tasks are inspected and assessed during supervision on the counselor level. The supervisor observes the counselor's abilities as demonstrated on the job and intervenes as needed to support and correct what the counselor does. The supervisor puts herself in a position to give helpful interventions by identifying tasks that are giving rise to difficulties (Mead, 1990).

Microcounseling Model

Another method for teaching skills is microcounseling (Daniels, Rigazio-Digilio, & Ivey, 1997). It's especially deemed useful for beginning therapists. Specific skills are sequentially organized, and each is taught--one at a time, using tools such as shaping, modeling and social reinforcement. The framework has been increased to include steps for effectively interview cross-culturally, called a Microskills Hierarchy. At the base of this hierarchy is "attending behavior," or being aware of and responsive to verbal, visual and other cues. Next is a listening sequence to aid in drawing the client out and establishing rapport:
  • Open and closed questions
  • Observation
  • Encouraging
  • Paraphrasing
  • Summarizing
Other skills follow that are designed for various states of therapy:
  • Reflection of feelings
  • Influencing
  • Integrating skills
  • Personalizing skills
  • Culture
  • Specific theory

Theory- and Treatment-Based Approaches to Supervision

A perusal of a number of articles and sites that discuss different approaches to supervision finds that none of those looked at list both theory-based and treatment-based approaches. There is quite a bit of overlap of the content of the discussion of these two approaches, so--for the purposes of this course--we will look at them as being one and the same.

[QN.No.#16. Theory- and Treatment -Based Approaches to Supervision target the supervisee's theoretical base. They include the following models:]

Psychodynamic Models

There are a number of models that demonstrate a psychodynamic orientation. They generally have two major areas of commonality:

1.Specifics of the theory, including transference and counter-transference, parallel processes, defense mechanisms, affective reactions and working alliance. Many of these are discussed separately in this course.

2.Three categories of psychodynamic supervision: client-centered, supervisee- or therapist-centered and supervisory-matrix-centered (Frawley-O'Dea and Sarnat, 2001; Falender, 2010).

Client-Centered Model
Freud began client-centered therapy and supervision, and--as suggested by the name--supervision sessions focus on the client's presentation and behavior. The supervisor acts as a teacher, aiding the supervisee in understanding and treating the client's problems. In essence, the supervisor is the expert who is largely uninvolved, but who has skills and knowledge to aid the supervisor. This approach assigns a great deal of authority to the supervisor. However, as long as both the supervisor and the supervisee understand the theoretical orientation in the same manner, there is little conflict between them because of the focus on the client. This often results in less anxiety in the supervisee, making it easier for her to learn. On the other hand, if conflict should develop, this model does not offer a way to directly deal with it (Frawley-O'Dea and Sarnat, 2001).

Supervisee-Centered Model
Psychodynamic supervisee-centered supervision focuses on the process and content of the experience of the supervisee as a counselor--anxieties, resistances, and learning problems. As in the client-centered approach, the supervisee is the uninvolved, authoritative expert. Since the psychological processes of the supervisee are the center of attention, this approach is less didactic and more experiential (Falender and Shafranske, 2004). The advantage of this approach is also a limitation of it: the supervisee gains understanding of her own psychological processes, but is therefore very subject to stress because of the close examination (Frawley-O'Dea and Sarnat, 2001).

Supervisory-Matrix-Centered Model
This approach to supervision also watches over client and supervisee material; however, it also brings in an analysis of the supervisor-supervisee relationship. The supervisor is no longer uninvolved, with his role being to "participate in, reflect upon, and process enactments, and to interpret relational themes that arise within either the therapeutic or supervisory dyads†(Frawley-O'Dea and Sarnat, 2001). Included in this is an analysis of parallel process, which Haynes, Corey, and Moulton (2003) define as "the supervisee's interaction with the supervisor that parallels the client's behavior with the supervisee as the therapist.

Feminist Model

Many people's initial response to the word "feminist" is "misandry" (Academic, 2011). However, the feminist approach to supervision is much more benign. Sometimes referred to as "developmental feminism," it's devoted to the ideas of acceptance, equality, integration, inclusion, and growth (Holman and Douglass, 2004). The feminist supervision model asserts that the experiences of an individual reflect standardized values and attitudes of the society (Smith, K. L., 2009). Thus, therapists using the feminist theory tend to put the client's, as well as their own experiences in the context of the society in which they live. Mental illness is often defined as an outcome of oppressive perceptions and behaviors (Haynes, Corey, and Moulton, 2003).

Although the Feminist Therapy Institute is now defunct, they were a leader in the feminist therapy model in 1999, and stressed the therapists' need to recognize differences of power in the client-counselor relationship, and to model productive use of power--personal, structural, and institutional (Smith, K. L., 2009). Though the supervisor-supervisee relationship was not directly addressed, it's assumed that the relationship would be equitable as much as possible, while focusing on empowering the supervisee (ibid).

Person-Centered Model

Carl Rogers' person-centered therapy was developed from the belief that a client is able to resolve problems and issues with no direction or interpretation from the counselor (Haynes, Corey, and Moulton, 2003). The counselor simply enables the client to solve them through a specialized collaboration. This is true also in person-centered supervision. The role of the supervisor is to give an environment in which productive learning and growth can take place (Lambers, 2000), utilizing the supervisor-supervisee relationship and their personal characteristics and attitudes to determine the results. Rogers' six conditions that are required in the counselor-client relationship are also important in the supervisor-supervisee relationship:
  • Psychological contact between the two
  • Incongruence, or an inconsistency causing some anxiety in the supervisee
  • Congruence within the relationship, in which the supervisor can share if it's helpful or therapeutic
  • Unconditional positive regard
  • Empathy
  • The empathy and unconditional positive regard are experienced

Cognitive-Behavioral Model

Just as in other theory-based models to supervision, a primary job for a cognitive-behavioral supervisor is to explain and demonstrate cognitive-behavioral techniques. More than in many other approaches to supervision, the cognitive-behavioral supervisor is recognized as a consultant who concentrates on skills and strategies (Falender, 2010). This sort of supervisor uses observable behaviors and understandings, especially the supervisee's reactions to the client and her identity as a therapist (Hayes, Corey, & Moulton, 2003). Techniques most often used by the supervisor include planning an agenda for each supervision session, connecting with the agenda of previous sessions, giving homework to the supervisee, and summarizing processes, gains, behaviors and all else that is faced along the way (Liese and Beck, 1997).

Narrative Systemic Model

Falender (2010) identifies narrative, intersubjective and postmodern models as being three names of the same model. There is overlap between the three, but they're distinct. Most simplistically:

Postmodern theory may be the father of narrative and intersubjective theories. Postmodern theory has been applied to a variety of disciplines, including counseling. It's a philosophical framework that believes that knowledge is constructed socially and is language based. It's in opposition to more common modernist beliefs that embrace objectivist approaches. In the midst of a growing understanding that no one clinical theory can possibly give reason for every type of problem and client. This gave rise to the strategic eclecticism model which permits a systematic selecting of different techniques and theories that focus on the process of change instead of the content to be changed (Rudes and Guterman, 2005). One common postmodern view is that what a person knows is based on his interpretation of the world around him; reality only exists in one's interpretations (Eppler and Carolan, 2005).

Intersubjective theory is a framework that emphasizes context and perspective, and can be used by people with a variety of theoretical outlooks. It has been depicted as a procedure in which two people, such as the therapist and client or the supervisor and supervisee, focus on the experiences of one of them (client or supervisee) and on how their relationship affects that person (Jacobs, 1992).

Narrative theory is based on the view of reality from the postmodern theories. It focuses on language and depends on narrative metaphors. When clients (and supervisees) tell their experiences, it's as a story for which the society they live in has "template narratives" for how these stories should unfurl. When the client's or supervisee's story unfurls differently from the social narrative "templates," the therapist or supervisor collaborates with the client or supervisee to discover their untold events and plots that may be used to address the experience or problem and conceive new story endings to pursue (Mick, 2011).

Each of these theories may be used as a model for supervision. And this is where the overlap of these theories comes to play. With each theory, the supervisor basically aids the supervisee in working with clients, developing the supervisee's experience in some type of context, and assembling the necessary reality around that (Falender, 2010).

Developmental Approaches to Supervision

For many years, developmental supervision theories have been a major focus for research and theory. In fact, there have been so many developmental models that some have encouraged researchers and theorists to work at consolidating those that already exist (Falender, 2010).

For the most part, developmental approaches to supervision describe advancing levels, from beginner to proficient, through which a supervisee progresses. Each level is made of distinct attributes and skills. Supervisees just beginning would only be expected to have few skills and little belief in themselves as counselors. Supervisees at a middle level of development would have more confidence and skill along with contradictory perceptions about their independence as a counselor and dependence on the supervisor. A supervisee who has reached the proficient level will probably have good problem-solving skills and give a great deal of thought about the process of counseling and supervision (Haynes, Corey, & Moulton, 2003).

Developmental-approach supervisors find that the essential element is correctly determining the current level of the supervisee and offering support and feedback that is suitable to that developmental level. At the same time, they must assist the supervisee's progress to the next level. To do this, the supervisor often uses a two-way process, called "scaffolding" (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2003). This process helps the supervisee to use preexisting knowledge and skills to bring about further learning.

As the supervisee begins to reach expertise at each level, the supervisor slowly moves the scaffold to include knowledge and skills from the next level up. All during this process, the supervisee is not only given additional information and counseling skills, but is able to develop better critical thinking skills through the interactions with the supervisor. This is not a linear process; the levels can be influenced by changes in setting, assignment, and client population (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 2009a).

The supervisee may be in different levels at once. She may be at a middle development level in general, but still feel a high level of anxiety when a new client situation presents itself (Smith, 2009). Or the supervisee may be at a very high level in cognitive-behavioral intervention for children with ADHD, but only at a beginning level in strategic family therapy (Falender, 2010).

Levels are also subjective as related to the supervisee. A supervisee who has finished a master's program may be less clinically sophisticated than a particular practicum supervisee.

[QN.No.#17. Developmental Approaches to Supervision describe progressive levels that the supervisee attains. They include the following models:]

Falender (2010) sums up the premises of developmental approaches of supervision as:
  • Supervisees grow and develop unless they're exposed to hurtful training/supervision atmospheres
  • Development moves through levels or stages
  • Supervisees wrestle with developmental concerns and issues such as identity and competency
  • Supervisors need to be aware of their supervisees' developmental stages and plan supervision to match
Many developmental theories don't include a skill set, or set of competencies for the supervisee to work to attain. Hess and Hess (1983) labeled supervisee behaviors that supervisors find critical:

  • Boundary management
  • Clinical skills and interpersonal skills
  • Decision-making abilities
  • Disclosure
  • Expertise
  • Interest in the client and client welfare
  • Openness to suggestions
  • Preparation for supervision
  • Self-esteem and self-awareness
  • Self-exploration
  • Theoretical knowledge

Integrated Developmental Model

From 1981 to 2004, the Integrated Developmental Model (IDM) was perhaps the most researched supervision developmental model. Three counselor-developmental levels are described in the theory:

Level 1--Supervisees are usually still students; they're high in motivation, but also in anxiety. They may also be nervous about being evaluated.

Level 2--These supervisees are at a middle level; they have vacillating motivation and confidence. They may connect client success with their own mood.

Level 3--At this stage, supervisees are generally secure, motivation is stable, and empathy is accurately moderated by objectivity. They're able to use their "therapeutic self" in interventions.

As in other developmental theories, supervisors need to use approaches and skills that match the supervisees' level. Thus, when working with a supervisee who is at level 1, you need to be both supportive and authoritative to balance the high levels of anxiety and dependence. When working with a supervisee at level 3, you would need to give priority to supervisor autonomy and use collaborative challenging.

Should a supervisor habitually badly match her reactions with the supervisee's level of development, it would make it very difficult for the supervisee to gain mastery of any developmental stage. As an example, a supervisor who expects a level-1 supervisee to exhibit autonomous behavior will most likely increase the supervisee's anxiety.

Although the IDM presents a flexible but clear theoretical model of developmental supervision, there are several weaknesses to note (Haynes, Corey, & Moulton, 2003):

  • It primarily focuses on developing graduate students who are in training, but gives little focus to post-graduate supervision.
  • It offers minimal ideas for clear-cut methods of supervision that should be used at each supervisee level.
Integrative supervision models tend to rely on more than one technique and theory. Haynes, Corey, & Moulton (2003) tried to reduce the potential combination variations by focusing on discussions of two approaches: theoretical integration and technical eclecticism.

Theoretical integration includes more than a simple blending of techniques. The goal is to make a theoretic framework that combines two or more of the best theories, resulting in a richer effect than any single theory.

Technical eclecticism, on the other hand, focuses on differences. It chooses from a variety of approaches and is a collection of techniques. One may use techniques from any theory without necessarily subscribing to that theory.

Developmental Phase Model

The Developmental Phase Model from Ronnestad and Skovholt (1993) addresses the first weakness listed above for the IDM. One hundred counselors and therapists with experience ranging from graduate students to professionals having 25 years of experience on average were interviewed by Ronnestad and Skovholt. The acquired data was analyzed three ways, resulting in stage model, a model of professional development and stagnation, and the formulation of a theme (Ronnestad and Skovholt, 1993).

The 2003 revision of the model consists of six developmental phases. The first three phases are approximate matches of the IDM levels:
  • The Lay Helper
  • The Beginning Student Phase
  • The Advanced Student Phase
The final three phases are related to a counselor's career development:
  • The Novice Professional Phase
  • The Experienced Professional Phase
  • The Senior Professional Phase
In addition to their phase model, Ronnestad and Skovholt found 14 themes in the development of counselors (Smith, 2009):
  • Professional development involves an increasing higher-order integration of the professional self and the personal self.
  • The focus of functioning shifts dramatically over time from internal to external to internal.
  • Continuous reflection is a prerequisite for optimal learning and professional development at all levels of experience.
  • An intense commitment to learn propels the developmental process.
  • The cognitive map changes--beginning practitioners rely on external expertise, seasoned practitioners rely on internal expertise.
  • Professional development is a long, slow, continuous process that can also be erratic.
  • Professional development is a life-long process.
  • Many beginning practitioners experience much anxiety in their professional work. Over time, anxiety is mastered by most.
  • Clients serve as a major source of influence and serve as primary teachers.
  • Personal life influences professional functioning and development throughout the professional lifespan.
  • Interpersonal sources of influence propel professional development more than 'impersonal' sources of influence.
  • New members of the field view professional elders and graduate training with strong affective reactions.
  • Extensive experience with suffering contributes to heightened recognition, acceptance and appreciation of human variability.
  • For the practitioner there is a realignment from self as hero to client as hero.

In summary, this theory notes that process of developing a therapist or counselor is complex and needs constant reflection. Ronnestad and Skovholt (2003) also report that just like the strong influence the client-counselor relationship has on treatment outcome, the way therapists handle problems and challenges in the client relationship influences the therapists professional growth or stagnation.

Process-Oriented and Other Approaches to Supervision

Process-oriented approaches to supervision are those in which basic roles and tasks are defined (Bernard, 1997). In that sense, the tables above could be called process-oriented. In 1980, Hess defined several roles, calling them "models":
  • Lecturer
  • Teacher
  • Case reviewer
  • Colleague-peer
  • Monitor
  • Therapist

[QN.No.#18. Process-Oriented and Other Approaches to Supervision define basic roles and tasks. They include the following models:]

Other models are discussed below. Each of the models can be helpful in talking with supervisees in order to decide what roles the supervisor may play during supervisory sessions, whether or not the roles are balanced, and if the supervisee would be more comfortable with less of some of them. It also helps to find out if the supervisee believes that the deblockedions are sufficient to cover the complete supervisory process, and if they aren't, what could you add (Falender, 2010).

Discrimination Model

The Discrimination Model, first published in 1979 by Janine Bernard, has been mention as a competency-based approach. It's also one of the most used and researched of the integrative supervision models. In review, this model is made up of three possible roles for a supervisor (teacher, counselor, consultant) and three different focuses (intervention, conceptualization, personalization). The resulting nine possible ways a supervisor can respond at any given time form the basis for supervision. Bernard and Goodyear (2004) mention other models that offer extended ideas of supervisor roles that include administrator, evaluator, facilitator, and monitor.

Systems Model

The center of supervision in a systems approach is the supervisor-supervisee relationship. This relationship involved both parties mutually and aims to give power to both (Holloway, 1995).� This central relationship connects the seven supervision dimensions:
  • Supervision functions
  • Supervision tasks
  • The client
  • The supervisee
  • The supervisor
  • The institution
The supervision function and tasks are at the forefront of interactions, while the other four dimensions relate to factors in the context that are hidden influences in the process of supervision. Any specific instance of supervision is reflective of a singular mixture of the seven dimensions (Smith, 2009).

Holloway (1995) provides a grid to represent the functions and tasks of the systems approach model:
Functions Tasks
  Counseling Skill Case Conceptualization Professional Role Emotional Awareness Self-Evaluation
Monitoring/Evaluating          
Advising/Instruction          
Modeling          
Consulting          
Supporting/Sharing          


To use the grid in a practical way in supervision, it can be looked at this way:

A. The supervisee is over-identified with a client, but is similar to the client demographically.

B. The supervisor is from a different ethnic group and culture.

The could be used to determine potential interventions of sharing and supporting in a context of self-assessment, or advising and instructing case conceptualization, while at the same time aiding the supervisee to pull out personal elements that could be intersecting with the professional role (Falender, 2010).

Dialectical Behavioral Model

The focus of dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) supervision is a kind of parallel process in which the therapist treats the client and the supervisor "treats" the supervisee (Fruzzetti, Waltz, & Linehan, 1997).The approach leads to eloquent clinical supervision, but needs intricate and involved training in the model in order to be able to be used in supervision.

It's assumed that the logical agreement is arbitrated so that there is no absolute truth, the therapist is fallible and not necessarily consistent; the therapist also consults with the client about effective interaction with professionals. A balance must be found between finding, valuing, and nurturing the innate ability of the supervisee to skillfully help others, all the while determining which skills the supervisee does not have and helping him to develop them.
According to Falender (2010), some aspects of DBT supervision are:
  • Supporting development and autonomy while directing supervisee progress, confronting inadequacies, and influencing supervisee’s clinical work
  • Weaving together problem-solving and skills training with validation of existent supervisee responses
  • Ongoing supervision is an essential part of therapy
  • Cognitive System
  • Specific Knowledge
    • Theory
    • Principles of learning, cognition, etc.
    • Ethical and legal issues
    • Theory and research literature
  • Conceptual capabilities
    • Ability to organize and integrate information, apply basic knowledge, conceptualize cases, identify clinically relevant problems, plan effective treatment, make good clinical judgments, awareness of impact of own beliefs and values and those of immediate and larger environment
  • Overt motor
    • Therapy-specific assessment and treatment techniques
    • Interpersonal clinical skills
    • Behavioral-clinical (teach)
    • Professional (reports)
    • Self development (outside therapy, reading)
  • Physiological-affective
    • Control of problematic emotional responses
      • Monitor and manage reactions to client and to supervisor (evaluation anxiety)
    • Attend to and manage arousal that is not emotion-linked
      • Self-monitor personal limits to avoid burnout

Interpersonal Process Recall Model

Based on the hypothesis that people behave diplomatically, Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) states that a supervisee automatically disregards much of what he thinks, feels, or intuits during therapy because it would challenge the fundamental inclination to be diplomatic if they were allowed to surface. IPR purposes to give the supervisee a protected place for internal responses. The supervisor acts as a facilitator, provoking greater awareness of what took place during the therapy session.

The actual IPE process requires the supervisor and supervisee to view a video made of the counseling session. While looking at it, at any time when either notices a valuable moment that was not addressed, the video is stopped and the supervisee reflects. She may attest to impatience, anger, frustration or other emotional reactions. The supervisor lets the supervisee explore internal resolution processes. The supervisor doesn't teach, but may ask question such as:
  • “What do you wish you had said to her?”
  • “How do you think she would have reacted had you said those things?”
  • “What kept you from saying what you wanted to say?”
  • “If you had the opportunity now, how might you tell her what you're thinking and feeling?”

They continue the process with the tape once again turned on. It's a very slow process and it puts these interpersonal dynamics in a spot that so magnifies them that they may be distorted. The supervisor's role is to decide which interactions are truly important. This technique should not be used until a meaningful supervisory alliance has been established (Falender, 2010).

Seven-Eyed Supervisor Model

In this uniquely named supervision model, Hawkins and Shohet (2000) proposed exploring a variety of influences on supervisory activity. The basis is understanding the ways things connect, interrelate, and arouse activity. It also joins together aspects and insights of psychotherapy and the internal life of the people involved (Hawkins, 2008).
  • The supervisor and supervisee look at therapy sessions with seven different focuses.
  • Look at a therapy session from the client's perspective: what he saw, heard, and felt; try to separate this data from their preconceptions, interpretations and assumptions.
  • Look at the supervisee's interventions and strategies, determine effectiveness and alternatives.
  • Aid the supervisee to step outside the relationship with the client and look at it from a new angle, paying attention to boundaries, behaviors, and variables such as metaphors, hunches and images that were presented.
  • Aid the supervisees to look at themselves, what is being re-stimulated in them by the client's material--counter-transferences.
  • What the supervisor has unconsciously picked up from the client system and how it may be affecting the dynamics of the supervisee-supervisor relationship--parallel or mirroring processes.
  • Look at the supervisor's "here and now" experience (counter-transference) with the supervisee and what can be learned from this about their relationship.
  • The supervisory context--the impact of the organization within which the supervision takes place, the code of ethics and contractual context, economic restrictions, social context, and the expectations of each one involved.

In moving through these modes, the supervisor needs to be sure that she doesn't get stuck in using just one of them. It is recommended to begin with #1 by talking about specific counseling sessions. Move to #3 and #4 to explore what is happening in the supervisee/client relationship as well as in the supervisor/supervisee relationship. Then move to #5 and #6, exploring the here and now supervisor/supervisee relationship, and include #7 to bring in a wider context. Finally, using new insights and a shift in the supervisory pattern, go to #2 to investigate other interventions that might be used in the next session. According to Hawkins (2008), a live rehearsal of using that intervention while in the supervision session makes it much more likely to happen in the therapy session.


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Objective 2: Explain at least five goals of a supervisor.
Question 12. Supervisor's goals do NOT include:

a) Integrating parts of the therapeutic process
b) Not spending time on therapeutic styles
c) Believing in herself as a professional
d) Exploration of ways to aid with specific client issues
e) All of the above
f) None of the above

Objective 3: Describe what his or her current supervisory philosophy is, how it was arrived at and what is being considered to improve that philosophy.
Question 13. What questions does a supervisor need to ask to aid in developing his supervisory philosophy?

a) What is the role of the supervisor, and What is the role of the supervisee?
b) How do I define "good clinical supervisor," and What is my model of clinical supervision?
c) What do I believe about conducting therapy, and What do I want to accomplish through clinical supervision?
d) What attributes do I have that can help in effective supervision, and What ethical issues might I run into?
e) All of the above
f) None of the above

Objective 4a: Give a brief definition or deblockedion of five basic types of approaches to supervision: Functional
Question 14: Functional Approaches to Supervision look at the functions and focus of supervision. They include the following models:

a) Authoritative Model
b) Laissez-Faire Model
c) Client-Centered Model
d) a and b
e) a and c
f) b and c

Objective 4b: Give a brief definition or deblockedion of five basic types of approaches to supervision: Competency-based
Question 15. Competency-Based Approaches to Supervision target the supervisee's skills and learning needs. They include the following models:

a) Microcounseling Model
b) Facilitative Model
c) Discrimination Model
d) a and b
e) a and c
f) b and c

Objective 4c: Give a brief definition or deblockedion of five basic types of approaches to supervision: Theory- and Treatment-Based
Question 16. . Theory- and Treatment -Based Approaches to Supervision target the supervisee's theoretical base. They include the following models:

a) Narrative Model
b) Person-Centered Model
c) Psychodynamic Model
d) a and b
e) a and c
f) b and c

Objective 4d: Give a brief definition or deblockedion of five basic types of approaches to supervision: Developmental
Question 17. Developmental Approaches to Supervision describe progressive levels that the supervisee attains. They include the following models:

a) Integrated Developmental Model
b) Supervisee-Centered Model
c) Developmental Phase Model
d) a and b
e) a and c
f) b and c

Objective 4e: Give a brief definition or deblockedion of five basic types of approaches to supervision: Process-Oriented and Other Approaches
Question 18. Process-Oriented and Other Approaches to Supervision define basic roles and tasks. They include the following models:
a) Feminist Model
b) Seven-Eyed Supervisor Model
c) Interpersonal Process Recall Model
d) a and b
e) a and c
f) b and c
 
Clinical Supervision > Chapter 4 - THE SUPERVISOR: PART 2
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