Working with conflict in clinical supervision: Wise supervisors' perspectives.

Eight female and 4 male supervisors identified by professional peers as highly competent were interviewed about experiences of conflict in supervision and their dependable strategies for managing it. Highly competent supervisors were open to conflict and interpersonal processing, willing to acknowledge shortcomings, developmentally oriented, and willing to learn from mistakes. They believed in creating strong supervisory alliances, discussing evaluation early on, modeling openness to conflict, and providing timely feedback. Dependable strategies included contextualizing conflicts in light of developmental and environmental factors, seeking consultation with colleagues, self-coaching, processing conflicts, accentuating supervisee strengths, interpreting parallel processes, and withdrawing from supervisee dynamics. (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)     

Psychoanalytic supervision and the need to be alone.

Argues that just as infants not left alone (in the marginal presence of their mothers) will not find their true selves, but will develop false selves with conformative tendencies (D. W. Winnicott, 1965), supervisees not left to discover their professional selves in the marginal presence of their supervisors will not develop true professional selves. A false self will then emerge in the place of an authentically experiencing one. This false self will conform to the perceived needs and demands of supervisors, teachers, and various clinical tests. Supervisors must balance the welfare of the patient with the professional developmental needs of the supervisee. A case study is presented as illustrative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical psychology graduate students and personal psychotherapy: Results of an exploratory survey.

Graduate students in American Psychological Association-certified clinical psychology programs (N?=?1,018) were surveyed about the experience of personal therapy. Students who had never been in therapy were surveyed about their views of personal therapy. Of the 50% of those surveyed who responded, 75% indicated that they had been in personal therapy. Given the response rate, the estimated prevalence of therapy among clinical psychology graduate students is between 38% and 75%. Personal growth was the most frequently cited reason for seeking therapy. Students who had not been in therapy reported lack of need and finances as reasons for not seeking treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Describing and facilitating effective supervision behavior in counseling trainees.

Counseling trainees often do not receive formal assistance in assuming the role of supervisee. What constitutes effective trainee behavior within the context of supervision, as opposed to the clinical context, also has received little empirical attention. A national sample of 176 participants (145 supervisees, 31 supervisors) affiliated with counseling psychology or counseling center internship programs rated the importance of 52 behaviors/characteristics (Supervision Utilization Rating Form; SURF) to the effective use of supervision at specific developmental training levels. Supervisors and supervisees applied ratings from important to extremely important to all items. Statistically significant differences between supervisor and supervisee ratings were noted on 6 items. The development of the SURF and its potential uses in supervisee role induction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling supervision by developmental level.

Examined the validity of an elaboration of C. Stoltenberg's (see record 1981-06282-001) developmental counseling supervision model with 71 supervisors (mean age 37.5 yrs) and 107 supervisees (mean age 30.2 yrs) from 9 university counseling centers, resulting in 107 supervision dyads. A supervision level scale (SLS) was used to classify predominant developmental level of supervisees and supervision environments to avoid the use of training level as a proxy for developmental level. Supervisors completed the SLS, and supervisors and supervisees reported their satisfaction and opinion of supervisee's learning. Supervisors were found to generally match the level of their supervision to the level of the supervisee. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed that supervisee developmental level was related to mean semesters of supervisee supervised, but not nonsupervised, counseling experience. Supervision environment level was also related to mean semesters of supervisee supervised, but not nonsupervised, counseling experience. Mean satisfaction and learning ratings of supervisors and supervisees did not differ by person–environment congruency. Results provide support for conceptualizing supervisees and supervision environments developmentally, although not for congruency. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supervisory theory into practice: Differential perception of supervision by Ekstein, Ellis, Polster, and Rogers.

58 experienced supervisors (median age 35.1 yrs) evaluated videotaped supervision sessions conducted by either Rudolph Ekstein, Albert Ellis, Erving Polster, or Carl Rogers, who had all supervised the same therapist, based on the same work sample. The 4 supervisors, originators or major interpreters of their theoretical models, were perceived as differing in attractiveness and in their use of the critic, model, and nurturing roles identified by B. Apfelbaum (1958); they also were perceived as differing in the extent to which they functioned as counselor and as teacher and in the extent to which their work focused on the supervisee's technical skills, on his/her use of his/her personal reactions and feelings, and on case conceptualization. These differences generally were consistent with theory. Raters did not perceive the supervisee or client differentially across supervision sessions, although the supervisee was perceived to be differentially satisfied with supervision. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Remembering childhood sexual abuse: A national survey of psychologists' clinical practices, beliefs, and personal experiences.

A national survey of 1,000 psychologists, to which 223 responded, assessed professionals' clinical practices and beliefs about the treatment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), personal CSA history, and the phenomenon of clients remembering CSA in therapy. Results indicated that over 25% of therapists reported using guided imagery, dream interpretation, bibliotherapy regarding sexual abuse, referral to sexual abuse survivors' group, and free association of childhood memories as memory retrieval techniques with clients who had no specific memory of CSA. However, the majority of therapists reported that they had not seen any cases of adult clients entering therapy with no memory of CSA and subsequently recalling abuse in the course of therapy. A personal history of CSA was not associated with most clinical practices related to treating sexual abuse survivors. The implications for training and establishing scientific standards of psychological practice are discussed. (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)     

"Good, you identified the suspect": Feedback to eyewitnesses distorts their reports of the witnessing experience.

People viewed a security video and tried to identify the gunman from a photospread. The actual gunman was not in the photospread and all eyewitnesses made false identifications (n = 352). Following the identification, witnesses were given confirming feedback ("Good, you identified the actual suspect"), disconfirming feedback ("Actually, the suspect is number __" ), or no feedback. The manipulations produced strong effects on the witnesses' retrospective reports of (a) their certainty, (b) the quality of view they had, (c) the clarity of their memory, (d) the speed with which they identified the person, and (e) several other measures. Eyewitnesses who were asked about their certainty prior to the feedback manipulation (Experiment 2) were less influenced, but large effects still emerged on some measures. The magnitude of the effect was as strong for those who denied that the feedback influenced them as it was for those who admitted to the influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of supervisor and supervisee theoretical orientation and supervisor-supervisee matching on interns' perceptions of supervision.

Effects of supervisor and supervisee theoretical orientation on supervisees' perceptions of supervisors' models, roles, and foci were studied, as were variables influencing quality of supervision and supervisee autonomy. 84 interns from 32 nationwide training sites were surveyed. Cognitive-behavioral supervisors were perceived to be in a consultant role and to focus on skills and strategies more than were humanistic, psychodynamic, and existential supervisors, who were perceived more as using the relationship model, playing the therapist role, and focusing on conceptualization. Supervisors were not perceived to differ in their use of growth and skill development models, teacher role, and focus on the supervisee. Women were perceived as more effective supervisors than were men. Perceived effectiveness was predicted by theoretical match and similarity. Supervisee autonomy was predicted by theoretical similarity, low supervisor adherence to theory, and unmatched gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

No hay rosas sin espinas: Conceptualizing Latina-Latina supervision from a multicultural developmental supervisory model.

Latina mental health professionals encounter many opportunities and challenges in professional settings. As Latinas increasingly enter the profession, we are now having our first opportunity to supervise another Latina. This opportunity is often greeted with great excitement and anticipation; however, it also presents unique professional challenges. These challenges often include, but are not limited to, the potential to blur boundaries in an unhealthy manner, idealization and then unmet expectations, overidentification, and cultural misunderstandings based on ethnic differences. Little has been written about Latina?Latina supervisory dyad relationships. Few Latina psychologists have had formal training in providing supervision to other Latinas and yet the future promises to increase these types of experiences. The authors developed a Multicultural Developmental Supervisory Model (MDSM) that integrates specific Latina/o multicultural counseling competencies and Latina/o ethnic identity theory, with developmental theories of supervision. The MDSM is designed to identify the complex processes that influence the supervision dyad in an effort to provide guidance and support to the supervisor and the supervisee as well as the institutions in which supervision takes place. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the Merits of Clinical Judgment: Comment.

Comments on the article by D. Westen and J. Weinberger (see record 2004-19091-002), which criticized academic clinical psychologists for being cynical about clinical judgment and clinical practice. In our view, it seems unlikely that more than a few academic clinical psychologists believe that they have little to learn from clinical practice or experience. In this comment, we examine the arguments about clinical judgment made by Westen and Weinberger (2004). Westen and Weinberger (2004) conflate the effect of training with the effect of experience. Westen and Weinberger (2004) do not mention that the value of training in psychology has been well-supported by research. While Westen and Weinberger (2004) make positive comments about the types of feedback that clinicians receive, for a number of reasons, including the Barnum effect, psychologists can be misled by feedback. Westen and Weinberger (2004) also argue that "psychotherapists tend to have much more direct and immediate feedback than most other medical practitioners, who may prescribe a medication or perform a procedure and not see the patient again for a year" (p. 603). But when psychologists make a diagnosis or describe a personality trait, they frequently do not receive "direct and immediate feedback" on whether they are right or wrong. In contrast, physicians often receive highly valid feedback. Finally, in discussing the value of ratings made by clinicians, Westen and Weinberger (2004) observe that "empirically, we have found surprisingly little evidence of theory-driven observational bias in using clinician-report methods" (p. 601). The issue is important because Westen and Weinberger argue in favor of using clinician ratings to construct diagnostic criteria. If clinicians' ratings are biased, then the criteria will be biased. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification of a new P450 subfamily, CYP4F1, expressed in rat hepatic tumors

This study focused on the belief of some nurse educators that caring cannot be taught directly and is learned by students from faculty role-modeling and faculty student interactions in clinical, classroom, and other situations. The purpose was to further explore these beliefs to determine if nursing students perceived that they learn caring behaviors through observing role-modeling by faculty, as well as to explore students' perceptions of other means by which they learn about caring. Since opportunities for faculty to model nurse caring behaviors in the clinical setting are varied and serendipitous, a videotaped scenario simulating a patient care situation, using professional actors, was created and shown to nursing students. The videotape was seen by 137 BSN and ADN students who then recorded their perceptions on a two-page open-ended questionnaire developed by the researchers. Results from this study indicated that students do learn about caring from faculty role-modeling, as well as from health care staff they encounter, often in a very paradoxical way. Many interesting and unintended results also occurred through the use of this research approach.     

Concerns About Professional Schools.

Comments on the article by Peterson (see record 2003-08988-002) and asserts that the professional work of clinical psychologists has many different facets, most of which are not easy to evaluate. Furthermore, it is difficult to generalize about professional schools because, as Peterson pointed out and as research affirms, they differ greatly in student quality and in the quality of their graduates. But it is exactly those differences that require closer scrutiny than they may have received so far. Peterson maintains that the effects of training must ultimately be gauged by the performance of graduates in professional work. We endorse that view and echo the urgency expressed by Peterson in his call to get on with the job. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal therapy in the training of psychologists.

Surveyed 185 clinical and counseling psychologists in British Columbia about their opinions on personal therapy as a component of professional training, and about the circumstances under which personal therapy had been provided to them while they were in graduate school. Ss identified potential benefits and risks of personal therapy. 88% saw at least 1 benefit for the experience, and 83% saw at least 1 risk. 41% of Ss had undergone therapy as part of their clinical training, and in many cases this experience was provided in a manner inconsistent with ethical guidelines. Of those receiving personal therapy, 46% reported that therapy was required rather than optional. Ethical issues concerning therapeutic interventions in the training of psychotherapists are discussed. A French summary of the article is also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Passionately committed psychotherapists: A qualitative study of their experience.

Twelve peer-nominated psychotherapists were interviewed to provide a rich understanding of their sustained high levels of work commitment. Common themes included creating boundaries between professional and nonprofessional life, using leisure activities to provide relief, turning obstacles into challenges, finding diverse activities to provide freshness and energy, continually seeking feedback and supervision, taking on social responsibilities, and experiencing a strong sense of spirituality. Whereas participants did not differ significantly from norm groups on measures of work salience, job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization, they reported high levels of personal accomplishment and scored in the 99th percentile on openness to experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and the magnification of failure.

Theory and observation suggest that depressed individuals minimize the importance of successes while magnifying the significance of failures. An experimental test of these predictions was performed. Depressed and nondepressed college students were given predetermined success or failure feedback on an ostensible test of social perceptiveness. Prior to taking the test, subjects indicated the degree to which they possessed various personality traits (including social perceptiveness) and the importance of those traits. After subjects received the feedback, the trait scales were readministered. The results indicated that depressed subjects inflated the importance of social perceptiveness after learning they had done poorly on a test presumed to measure that trait. In contrast, nondepressed subjects inflated the importance of social perceptiveness after succeeding on the test. Depressed subjects also displayed a tendency to overgeneralize from the social perceptiveness test results by lowering their estimates of their general proficiency following failure. The results suggest that depressed individuals evaluate personal feedback in a manner that tends to be self-derogating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)