Inservice training for clinical supervisors.

Clinical supervisors have had to rely heavily on their training as psychotherapists to meet their responsibilities as supervisors. A 2-day training program in supervision skills designed to broaden the repertoire and enhance the professional development of practicing supervisors is described. The training laboratory is divided into 3 parts: (a) examination of baseline supervisor behaviors, with particular attention given to focus and role; (b) presentation of 4 distinct models of supervision (Discrimination, Interpersonal Process Recall, Microtraining, and Live Supervision); and (c) training in ethical/legal issues, which includes evaluation, emergency situations, and ethical and/or legal dilemmas. The in-service training program is designed to give participants an opportunity to practice the skills presented. Furthermore, an attempt is made to integrate the laboratory materials so that the supervisor is trained to use different behaviors discriminately. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microaggressions by supervisors of color.

Supervisors of color are not only targets of discrimination but also perpretators. The denial of supervisees’ identities reveals a lack of respect and empathy, creating significant barriers to a good supervisory relationship. An area of professional development for supervisors of color is understanding the diverse identities of our supervisees, who are increasingly multiethnic and transnational. Supervisors of color also need the opportunity to examine their experiences of microaggressions both as sender and receiver and reflect on their own identities and how they impede or enhance the quality of supervision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer consultation groups for private practitioners.

Presents peer consultation groups as an important means for meeting the needs of private practitioners, specifically to improve therapeutic effectiveness, provide practical help, and counter isolation and burnout. Those aspects of trainee supervision that apply to peer consultation are examined, and the literature on peer consultation or supervision is reviewed. Using the authors' own group as a model, the goals, composition, content, and process of a peer consultation group are described. Stages of group development are outlined, and examples of group functioning are presented. Obstacles to participation, other alternatives, and the advantages of peer consultation groups are discussed. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational supervision: When supervisors mentor.

Can a psychologist simultaneously fill the roles of clinical supervisor and mentor to a trainee? What are the implications of adding a mentoring component to a supervisory relationship? Like academic advising, supervision need not incorporate a mentoring function. However, the author hypothesizes that, all things considered, it is better for supervisees, and probably supervisors and training sites, too, when supervising psychologists engage supervisees in connected, collaborative, and increasingly reciprocal developmental relationships. There are numerous implications of mentoring-infused or transformational supervision, not the least of which is the inescapable tension between the supervisor's mentoring and evaluative roles. The author calls for concerted research and practice development in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reporting employment test scores to supervisors.

A simplified percentile profile chart, designed for presenting test results to supervisors, is described and illustrated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role perceptions of successful and unsuccessful supervisors.

The self-perceived role of first-line supervisors was compared with the role perceived by their superiors. 18 items (word pairs) differentiated between the "high" and "low" groups at the 5% level or better. "The most outstanding self-perception of the 'poor' supervisor is his sales approach to human relations… [while]… the 'good' supervisor… sees himself as respecting the rights and dignity of others." Conclusions are explored on the basis of the assumptions that (1) the self-perceptions are in approximate accord with the superiors' perceptions, and (2) the differences in self-perception reflect qualities that distinguish good from poor supervisors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple functions for psychologists in community consultation.

"Psychologists are assuming a wider range of responsibilities in community program administration and community consultation: in mental health, corrections, education, and anti-poverty." A program for training consultants was developed in New Mexico during a 4-yr demonstration project. Selection criteria include: (1) sound graduate training including the PhD for psychologists, (2) substantial clinical skills in diagnosis and therapy, (3) experience in consultation and administration, and (4) experience in community work. A 2-mo., full-time orientation program was conducted for the consultants hired. The project stimulated development of various new resources in local communities including, among others, a day school for retarded children, a family casework agency, a day center for emotionally disturbed children, a training and consultation service to an orphanage, and an alcoholism treatment and rehabilitation program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Promoting clinical expertise in academic faculty supervisors.

Surveyed 71 training clinic directors at American Psychological Association (APA)-accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs to determine the role of departmental policies in encouraging clinical faculty to maintain and develop their clinical skills. Ss estimated the amount of current clinical faculty involvement in direct service work, the relationship between such involvement and effectiveness at clinical supervision, and the weight given to supervisory skill in departmental promotion and tenure decisions. Supervisory skill was positively related to the supervisor's level of current clinical activity. However, Ss in many programs felt that the quality of supervision was being ignored in tenure and promotion determinations. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictive validity of psychometric evaluations of supervisors.

31 higher level employees in 1 firm and 26 in another were assessed by objective test batteries. Clinical interpretations of test data, test scores, and other predictors were analyzed with reference to criterion personality ratings and management decisions at a follow-up point of 3? yr. for the 1st sample and 7 yr. for the 2nd. Predictive validity of test assessments was generally satisfactory in the 1st sample, although not pragmatically superior to that of certain objective data. Prediction was less satisfactory in the 2nd sample, but more unique to test data. A matching study indicated some correspondence of test reports and criterion personality sketches in the 2nd sample. Uninterpreted test scores were not generally valid except as measures of intelligence. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparing psychologists for high-risk jobs: Key ethical considerations for military clinical supervisors.

Military psychologists must provide a full gamut of mental health evaluation, treatment, and consultative services in a variety of nontraditional settings. Internship training and postdoctoral supervision are key to producing competent military psychologists that can simultaneously serve effectively as commissioned officers. The context of supervision has evolved in recent years as the majority of military psychologists are deployed to the combat theater and many are tasked with nontraditional operational roles. This article explores the key ethical considerations faced by supervisors who prepare psychology interns, postdoctoral residents, or civilian psychologists for high-risk military roles in a time of war. Recommendations are provided for both clinical supervisors and military psychology leaders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual behavior between clinical supervisors and trainees: Implications for professional standards.

Comments that sexual behavior between clinical supervisors and trainees presents a challenge to professional psychology. At least 4 areas need attention: the prevalence and nature of such sexual contact, its effects on clinical training, ethical implications, and the potential legal liability of supervisors who engage in sexual intimacies with trainees. The extent to which sexual behavior in the supervisory relationship may have negative effects on the teaching and learning of professional skills remains unknown until it becomes a legitimate subject of research and discussion. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring the contribution of supervisors to intervention outcomes.

Supervision has been identified as perhaps the most important mechanism for developing competencies in therapists in training. However, there is scant research on the effect of supervisors on client outcome. Moreover, in a relatively recent review of the existing literature, significant methodological concerns were raised that attenuate the interpretability of the existing reported findings. The current study therefore sought to address such methodological concerns. Crosstabulation of supervisors by client outcome categories (i.e., recovered, reliably improved, no reliable change, deteriorated) indicated that supervisors are significantly related to client outcome, generating a moderate effect. Training programs are therefore encouraged to routinely track client outcomes as an objective indicator of quality supervision. Additional implications for training programs and suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The voices of registered play therapists as supervisors.

This study examined the background, perceived training needs, and issues of Registered Play Therapist Supervisors (n = 305) and their supervisees. Supervisors completed a four-part survey regarding demographics, supervisor and supervisee issues, and perceptions of training needs for supervisors of play therapists. Important findings are the lack of training in and possible understanding of clinical supervision, the lack of perceived need for supervision of supervision, and the absence of countertransference as an important issue for supervisors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The need for empirical studies in school consultation.

Conceptual models are not, as is often thought, constructed from logical deductions derived from observed facts, but rather, are postulated. Statements describing models are assumed and predictions are derived from them (Walker, 1963). Conceptual models are not lacking in school consultation literature. Yet aspects of our conceptual models have not received adequate scientific investigation, and there are those researchers and practitioners who have voiced doubts concerning the knowledge base for consultation, as well as fundamental assumptions underlying it. It is our assumption that such doubts can be resolved only by the most rigorous application of scientific method. With this aim in mind, we have devoted this issue to empirical studies in consultation. The goal of this issue is to present scientific endeavors that look at evidence systematically, without concern for where the data lead. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A symposium on evaluation of training for consultation.

Papers from a symposium during the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Montreal in 1973 describe programs for training students to consult in a variety of settings with a variety of goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variables affecting group mental health consultation for teachers.

Examined the contribution of consultant style and group environment to consultee attitude toward the consultant and toward group mental health consultation. Ss were 150 student teachers who participated in 10-wk consultation groups. Consultees completed a consultant-style questionnaire, a 90-item group environment scale, and 2 semantic differentials. Data analysis indicated that identifiable process variables do contribute significantly to consultee attitude toward the consultant and toward group mental health consultation. Specifically, 94% of the variance in attitude toward consultation and 60% of the variance in attitude toward consultant are explained by clusters of items representing consultant style and by group environment subscales. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human relations knowledge and social distance set in supervisors.

Postal supervisors' knowledge of human relations as measured by an adapted Air Force test and their perceptual set for social distance as measured by Fielder's ASo Scale correlated significantly with productivity of subordinates as measured by the United States Postal Department Work Production Standard averaged over the period of 1 year. Effective leaders knew proper human relations practices and their perceptual set enabled them to maintain optimal psychological distance from subordinates, neither so close that they were hampered by emotional ties nor so distant that they lost emotional contact. Results suggest that selection of Postal Department supervisors would be improved by eliminating candidates whose scores fall beyond 1 sigma from the mean on the social distance scale; and from those remaining, taking the number required with the highest relations knowledge scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)