Relationship of supervisor and trainee gender to in-session verbal behavior and ratings of trainee skills.

This study of 44 supervision dyads investigated the effects of supervisor and trainee gender on the verbal interactions of participants and on their perceptions of trainee skill levels. Supervisor and trainee utterances were coded as being relationship or task focused. Male supervisors paired with male trainees engaged in more task-oriented discourse than did other dyad configurations. In other analyses, gender did not affect which party exerted more effect on the structure of the interactions. Finally, no significant differences were found in how male and female trainees rated their own skill levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in trainees' intention use and volunteer clients' evaluations of sessions during early skills training.

Volunteer clients (N = 96) evaluated sessions conducted by prepracticum trainees prior to and after the trainees received instruction in interpersonal–psychodynamic therapy. The relationship between changes in therapeutic style, measured by intension use, and changes in volunteer clients' session evaluations were examined with growth curve analyses. After training, trainees increased their focus on client emotions and on the therapeutic relationship and decreased their verbal activity. Increased session smoothness was related to decreases in trainee verbal activity and to increases in trainee flexibility. Increases in volunteer clients' perceptions of trainee expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness were related to trainees' increased focus on client emotions and increased focus on the therapeutic relationship and to decreases in confrontation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training activities and styles of beginning supervisors: A survey.

Used the Psychotherapy Supervision Questionnaire to assess activities and difficulties of 75 psychotherapy supervisors (aged 23–57 yrs) with 2 yrs or less experience in supervision. 29 Ss were employed in university graduate school programs; the remaining 46 were employed in predoctoral internship sites. There were expected differences in the level and the number of trainees supervised by the 2 groups, and they differed markedly in their theoretical orientations, with Ss from internship sites placing greater emphasis on psychodynamic approaches. All Ss reported frequent difficulties with perceived trainee resistance, with understanding the presented material, and with suggesting interventions. 32% had no formal training for supervision prior to beginning supervision. An overwhelming majority expressed interest in receiving more training in supervision. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supervisees' perceptions of their development: A test of the counselor complexity model.

Examined the perceptions of 91 trainees in counseling and clinical psychology regarding their development of counseling and supervision behaviors. Ss were from 8 geographically diverse training programs and were categorized into 3 levels on the basis of a composite of their degree of experience in graduate school, counseling, and received supervision. Ss' responses to an instrument designed to assess constructs relevant to the 2nd author's (see record 1981-06282-001) counselor complexity model were examined across these experience levels. Results indicate that higher-level Ss reported greater self-awareness, autonomy, acquisition of counseling skills and understanding of theory than did Ss at a lower experience level. Implications for developmental models of supervision are discussed. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences among supervisees at different levels of training: Implications for a developmental model of supervision.

Three studies examined differences across 3 counselor trainee levels (beginning practicum, advanced practicum, and doctoral interns) with regard to (a) the interpersonal influence process between the supervisor and supervisee (Study 1), (b) trainees' perceptions of specific supervisor behaviors contributing to supervisory effectiveness (Study 2), and (c) trainees' perceptions of the most important or critical incidents that occur within supervision during a semester (Study 3). Ss were 58 beginning practicum students, 51 advanced practicum students, and 36 doctoral interns. Overall results are congruent with a developmental model of supervision and suggest that across trainee levels, variables related to the interpersonal influence process differ; different types of supervisor behaviors appear to be effective at different levels of supervision; and different types of critical incidents are reported within the supervision process. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do supervisors modify psychotherapy supervision according to supervisees' levels of experience?

Administered a questionnaire concerning goals, expectations, and procedures of supervision to 10 supervisors who had 1st-yr practicum students, 13 supervisors with 2nd-yr externship students, and 8 supervisors with interns who had at least 2 yrs prior clinical experience as psychotherapists. All Ss had an average of 10 yrs clinical experience and 5 yrs experience as supervisors. Results show no significant differences among the 3 groups of Ss who were supervising trainees with different levels of clinical development and skill, suggesting that supervisors may not modify their manner of providing supervision in accordance with supervisees' levels of experience. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child diagnostic assessment: Current training practices in clinical psychology internships.

Surveyed clinical psychology internships regarding current practices in training child diagnostic assessment: proportion of interns' time spent in child vs adult experiences, child assessment vs other types of child experiences, and didactic vs direct clinical experience. We compared the responses from general clinical psychology internships with those identifying themselves as child specialty internships. The percentage of child-related experience (39%) was higher for general internships than was the percentage of adult-related experience (14%) for child specialty internships. Although there were more similarities than differences across types of programs, trainees from general internships reported significantly less experience in assessment of younger children, particularly preschool age, and both groups reported only minimal assessment experience with infants. Although moderate training experiences were reported with traditional assessment instruments, both groups reported minimal experience with the more specialized ability assessment of exceptional children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variation in supervision process across trainee experience levels.

Explored whether (a) practicing supervisors perceived themselves as varying their supervision process across 4 trainee experience levels and (b) whether several supervisor demographic variables were related to the degree to which some supervisors might vary the supervision process more than others. Four experience levels were identified: 1st practicum, 2nd practicum, advanced practicum, and predoctoral intern. 37 experienced supervisors rated the degree to which the supervision they gave varied across trainee levels. Results show that Ss significantly varied supervision between 2nd-practicum and advanced-practicum supervisees, but they did not vary the other levels. Also, psychodynamically oriented Ss in contrast to humanistic and other orientations (e.g., cognitive-behavioral) were most likely to make this discrimination across trainee levels. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On becoming a supervisee: Preparation for learning in a supervisory relationship.

Proposes a more structured form of presupervisory preparation than generally exists in graduate training programs. Guidelines for incorporating such instruction are provided. Topics for discussion, including salient issues and perspectives in the supervision literature as well as research findings, are outlined. Potential pitfalls and strategies for trainees to deal with dissatisfactions are identified. The suggested curriculum for preparing the supervisee would cover the differences between a didactic and a therapeutic emphasis, stages of development within supervision, interpersonal relationships, and countertransference and parallel process. An overview of supervisory methods, especially with respect to the presentation of case material would also be valuable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The supervision relationship: Variables contributing to positive versus negative experiences.

We present pilot data on variables that influence interaction between trainees and supervisors and contribute to positive versus negative experiences in psychotherapy supervision. Subjects were two groups of supervisor/trainee dyads in which trainees had reported very positive or very negative supervision experiences. We found agreement on the quality of supervision experience between pair members. Trainees had positive supervision experiences when they were seen as interested in the supervisor's feedback. Trainees preferred supportive, instructional, and interpretive supervisors. Similarity in theoretical orientation and interpretive style contributed to positive experiences. A model combining variables to predict the quality of supervision experiences is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approaching supervision from a developmental perspective: The counselor complexity model.

Presents a model of counselor supervision that conceptualizes the training process as a sequence of identifiable stages through which the trainee progresses. The progress of the trainee is described from the entry level counselor through the advanced master counselor stage. Characteristics of trainees at each of the 4 levels of the model are discussed, as are the appropriate supervision environments that encourage development to the next level. The supervisor skills of discrimination and the creating of environments are discussed in relation to trainee characteristics and the appropriate environments for the supervision process. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of psychotherapy supervision on client outcome: A critical examination of 2 decades of research.

The supervision of counselors-in-training has become an important area of psychotherapy research. Through supervision, one expects that trainees will gain the knowledge and clinical skills needed to work effectively with clients. Much research has been dedicated to understanding trainee skill development through supervision, but relatively few studies in the literature have addressed whether clinical supervision leads to improved client outcome. The current article presents a review of 2 decades of research into the question of whether clinical supervision improves client outcome. Ten studies conducted between 1981 and 1997 are reviewed in detail. Caveats and criticisms, as well as suggested directions for future research, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of conceptual level and supervision structure on counselor skill development.

Assigned 60 female introductory psychology students to high-structured supervision, low-structured supervision, or nonsupervised controls. Experimental Ss took part in both didactic and supervisory sessions. Nonsupervised controls received didactic training only. Self-report measures generally supported the "matching model" (D. E. Hunt; see PA, Vol 52:1699) predictions for low conceptual level participants, whereas behavioral measures yielded minimal support (Paragraph Completion Method, Critical Incident Tape 1, Communication Index, Training Reaction Questionnaire). Compared with controls, supervised trainees improved minimally on quantitative dimensions and significantly on qualitative dimensions of reflection-of-feeling responses. Supervised trainees also improved their level of empathic communication beyond that achieved by controls. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of supervision in microtraining and the impact of individual differences in learning style on self-report and behavioral measures. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training family therapists within an academic setting.

Identifies and discusses the advantages and limitations of training psychologists as family therapists within the traditional academic program. Advantages include introducing systems theory early in student training, integrating systems theory with other therapy models, providing a broad sampling of family theorists, evaluating the empirical basis of family interventions, and doing training with a homogeneous group. Limitations include limited time and human resources, difficulty in balancing didactic and practicum aspects, conflicting academic instruction and supervision, minimal emphasis on the personal issues of trainees, and evaluation and performance pressures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Integrated Developmental Model of supervison: Scale development and validation procedures.

Despite the growing empirical evidence for developmental models of supervision, the need for reliable, valid assessment procedures for identifying a trainee's level of development exists. This study sought to address this need by administering an instrument designed to assess constructs relevant to C. D. Stoltenberg and U. Delworth's (1987) Integrated Development Model (IDM) to counseling and clinical psychology trainees of varying levels of graduate education, counseling, and supervision experience. Primary data provided support for the IDM and suggested construct validity for the Supervisee Levels Questionnaire—Revised because scores on the instrument differed for certain trainee groups who varied in amount of previous training and experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Complementary interaction over time in successful and less successful supervision.

Over the course of supervision, the interaction sequence was examined in 6 supervision dyads. The dyads comprised 3 supervisors each meeting with 1 successful and 1 less successful trainee. The presence of D. J. Kiesler's (in press) hypothesized high-low-high pattern of complementarity over time for successful supervision was examined. Each speaking turn was categorized into 1 of the interpersonal circumplex quadrants, and the sequence of these quadrant responses was examined using loglinear analysis. Results indicate no support for the hypothesized 3-stage model of successful supervision, but there were differences in supervisor responding to trainee hostility across outcome. Results are discussed with respect to the definition and utility of the construct of complementarity to supervision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relevance of the supervisory alliance to the counseling alliance and to treatment adherence in counselor training.

The quality of the supervisory working alliance should be related to the quality of the counseling working alliance and to trainee adherence to a treatment model. After each of 4 supervision sessions, 75 trainees completed the Supervisory Working Alliance Inventory, and, after each counseling session, their clients completed the Working Alliance Inventory. Judges rated portions of the videotaped counseling sessions with an adherence measure. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze these nested data (repeated measures of trainees nested within supervisors). As hypothesized, the trainee's perception of the supervisory alliance was significantly related to the client's perception of the counseling alliance and to aspects of treatment adherence. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the supervision literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)