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Reviews the book, Casebook for clinical supervision: A competency-based approach by Carol A. Falender and Edward P. Shafranske (see record 2008-06295-000). Falender and Shafranske's previous book, Clinical Supervision: A Competency-Based Approach, examined the practise of supervision in the language and framework of competencies. Although this comprehensive book makes a valuable contribution, the writing is decidedly conceptual and abstract, leaving the reader to wonder just how these principles might operate in practise. As if to answer this very question, Falender and Shafranske’s (2008) edited Casebook for Clinical Supervision: A Competency-Based Approach has appeared. The title and editors’ opening chapter promise that the model of supervision described in the earlier text will be illustrated through case material derived from the supervision sessions of the assembled experts and that the chapters of the two books correspond to and complement one another. After finishing the book, I found that although the Casebook did not fully deliver on its promises, I learned a great deal that will be of use in my teaching and practise of supervision. Most of the topics addressed in the Casebook chapters reflect focal concerns in the earlier text, including best practises of supervision, competency-based clinical supervision, alliance issues in treatment and supervision, ethics and legal issues, issues of culture and context, and evaluation. However, it must be said that many of the authors do little to explicitly tie their material to the editors’ model, leaving the reader with the task of determining just how the chapters explicate the earlier model. Overall, although it has some surprising weaknesses, the Casebook’s strengths outweigh them by a wide margin. The book may be read profitably on its own or in conjunction with the earlier companion volume. Graduate students learning how to conduct supervision as well as seasoned supervisors will find a great deal they can learn from in these chapters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
