Becoming an Effective Supervisor

A Workbook for Counselors and Psychotherapists

Jane Campbell

• Editore: Routledge
• Anno: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781135058296
• Edizione: 1
• Argomento: Psicologia
• Categoria: Consulenza psicoterapeutica

A practical, hands-on workbook, Becoming an Effective Supervisor neatly fills the gap in supervision resources available to mental health practitioners. The workbook is designed to help clinical counselors and therapists create effective supervision programs of their own, and to address the individual needs of their students. The leading contemporary models of supervision are discussed, as well as the necessary components of a successful supervision curriculum.A framework is then provided for counselors and therapists to develop a personalized and highly effective supervisory style to implement with their own students. The unique exploration exercises in each chapter allow readers to actively integrate the information provided, and to apply these lessons and skills to their own supervisory experiences. Students too will benefit from her concise examination of the theories, applications, and goals of the supervision process. Along with a discussion of the ethical, legal, and multicultural issues faced by clinical supervisors, practical analyses and applications ensure that this book will be a valued addition to any clinical counseling or therapy library.

1

WHAT IS SUPERVISION?

Becoming a clinical or counseling supervisor can be a challenging experience for the mental health practitioner. While supervision is a relationship that is similar in many ways to counseling or psychotherapy, it has a different structure and purpose. The primary purpose of clinical supervision is to ensure the quality of client care while the trainee or supervisee is learning. The supervisor must constantly weigh the needs and welfare of the client with the supervisee’s need to learn and grow professionally. Supervision requires the evaluation of the supervisee’s professional and therapeutic competence as well as suitability for the profession. Therefore, supervision is a hierarchical relationship with evaluation as a key component.

To be an effective supervisor, the practitioner must develop separate skills from those required for the practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Simply because one is a skilled counselor or psychotherapist does not necessarily mean one will be a good supervisor. Because supervisors accept the ethical and legal responsibility for the work of the supervisee with clients, an additional burden of responsibility is placed on the counselor or psychotherapist serving in a supervisory role. Pressures from the work setting, ethical and legal concerns, and a host of practical problems related to practicing in today’s health care climate also affect the supervisor and the supervisory relationship. Mental health professionals are already challenged by the mandate to maintain ethical standards and to follow state laws while operating within licensing guidelines and institutional policies. Factors such as survival in the work setting, conflict resolution, and the impact of larger cultural, socioeconomic, and political issues also affect the supervisory process. Thus, practitioners who become clinical supervisors need to demonstrate competence not only in working with clients but in working with organizational systems as well.

With post-degree supervision for licensure or certification purposes, the task of being a supervisor can be even more difficult, especially for busy practitioners. In this capacity, the supervisor serves as the last gatekeeper for evaluating the skills, expertise, and ethical behavior of the supervisee before independent practice. It is an important role and should not be taken lightly. As more and more states are requiring licensure for all mental health professionals, there is an increasing demand today for competent, trained clinical supervisors in all settings, including schools, agencies, hospitals, and private practice. The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) has just established an Approved Clinical Supervisor credential, and The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists has had a special supervision credential since 1987. Some states, such as Texas, are requiring potential supervisors in counseling, marriage and family, and social work to be certified and to take a formal, 40-hour course in supervision

Therefore, just as there was a need for training in the techniques of Counseling and psychotherapy, the same is true for supervision. The majority of practitioners who have not received any training in supervision might believe that because they are capable, accomplished, and experienced counselors or therapists, they therefore can supervise. They fail to understand that there is no perfect relationship between being a good therapist and being a good supervisor.

Borders and Usher (1992) have made a strong argument for the value of post-master’s supervision by stating that counselor growth and development upon graduation is related to supervised, not unsupervised, experience. However, little is known about supervision practices or the training of these supervisors outside academic settings (Borders, Cashwell, & Rotter, 1995, Bernard, 1997).

According to Baronchok and Kunkel (1990), few therapists receive formal training in supervision as part of their degree program. Smaller still are the numbers of supervisors who themselves receive formal supervision of their ongoing work with supervisees. As a result, Worthington (1987) expressed concern that supervisors may simply be perpetuating the mistakes of their own supervisors.

One problem for practitioners who want to become effective supervisors is the lack of material available to train supervisors outside of academic settings. This workbook is designed to fill that gap. It is not meant to replace a textbook, but to provide a practical, hands-on tool to facilitate the teaching of supervision to mental health practitioners regardless of degree or setting. Although each area, such as school counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy, and psychology, has information specific to its field, there are certain universal supervision concepts, models, and methods to be learned. The goal of the workbook is to help the practitioner move from the theory of clinical supervision to its practice. It is hoped that readers, on completing the workbook, will feel more comfortable and effective in their role as supervisor and that their interest will be piqued to explore the topic further.

How to Use the Workbook

This workbook is suitable for either the beginning or the more advanced supervisor. It can also be used to teach a formal course in super...