Issues in training effective supervisors

Clinical supervision in South Africa: Perceptions of supervision training, practices, and professional competencies

We investigated South African clinical and counselling psychology supervisors’ (n=44) perceptions of supervision training, their supervision experiences, and their perceived competence, confidence and effectiveness in providing supervision. Results indicated that many supervisors prematurely engage in supervision responsibilities and initiate supervision prior to receiving formal training in supervision. With limited regulatory guidelines available on supervision training and practices in South Africa, the findings indicate a need for the South African psychology profession to establish a formal regulatory framework on supervision training and practices. This includes identifying supervision training needs, developing training programmes, and instituting formal training requirements for practitioners who participate in clinical supervision.

Supervision training interventions in the health and human services: realist synthesis protocol

INTRODUCTION

Supervision training aims to develop workplace supervisory competencies. Despite extensive supervision literature, including literature reviews, the processes through which supervision training interventions produce their effects, for whom and under what circumstances is not clearly delineated. The purpose of this study is to explain the effect of contextual factors on the underpinning mechanisms of supervision training outcomes.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We propose to examine supervision training interventions across the health and human services workforce using realist methods. Pawson's five stages for undertaking a realist synthesis will be followed: (1) clarifying the scope of the review; (2) determining the search strategy; (3) study selection; (4) extracting data and (5) synthesising the evidence and drawing conclusions. Extracted data will include study characteristics, characteristics of participant cohort, intervention type, contextual factors, underlying mechanisms and supervision training outcomes. Patterns in context-mechanism-outcome configurations will be identified. Initial programme theories will be developed based on a comprehensive search of the literature, which will include key terms relating to supervision and training. The search strategy will involve: (1) electronic database searching using Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Social Services Abstracts, Educational Resources Information Center, PsycINFO and Australian Public Affairs Information Service and (2) hand and citation searching. We will also contact authors where necessary and discuss identified literature among the project team with extensive expertise in supervision training.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The realist synthesis will propose an evidence-informed theory of supervision training interventions (ie, what interventions work for whom and why). The findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and presentations and through discussions with relevant organisations and stakeholders. The research will be used by educators to develop evidenced-based supervision training interventions. It will also help workplace supervisors to better understand what types of supervision training might work most optimally for them and their colleagues. Other researchers could use the synthesis findings to guide future supervision research.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42018094186.

Supporting the supervisor: organizing professional development to enhance practice

Although clinical supervision is deemed central to the delivery and dissemination of high quality CBT, knowledge of what constitutes ‘optimal’ CBT supervision remains limited. In consequence, understanding of how best to support the development of supervisors is also restricted. This article considers the professional development needs of CBT supervisors, identifying the current context in which CBT supervision is mandated and delivered and seeking to clarify the domains of knowledge, competence and skill that must be mastered. We propose ways in which CBT supervisors might construct their professional development activities and raise questions relating to the need for a more organizationally embedded approach to the development of CBT supervisors in the current professional climate.

How Should We Best Train Clinical Psychology Supervisors? A Delphi Survey

Although clinical supervision plays a major part in the professional training of clinical psychologists, there are as yet no agreed guidelines for preparing supervisors for this key educational role. This article uses the Delphi approach to see whether an expert panel of UK clinical psychologists could come to a consensus on what the most suitable components of such a supervisor training programme might be.

Training in Supervision

This study examined the current state of affairs of training in the practice of supervision in doctoral programs and predoctoral internship sites accredited by the American Psychological Association. Results indicated that although a majority of programs and sites offered some type of opportunity for training in supervision, there were differences in the methods and extent of the training. In particular, statistically significant differences were found between the training offered in counseling psychology programs when compared to clinical psychology programs, and in university counseling center internship programs when compared to other types of internship sites. The more extensive training in supervision offered among counseling psychology programs and counseling center internship sites is discussed in terms of the identity of counseling psychology and the future of professional psychology in general. Recommendations for enhancing training in the conduct of supervision and directions for further research are also offered.

Defining competencies in psychology supervision: A consensus statement

Supervision is a domain of professional practice conducted by many psychologists but for which formal training and standards have been largely neglected. In this article, supervision is proposed as a core competency area in psychology for which a number of elements reflecting specific knowledge, skills, and values must be addressed to ensure adequate training and professional development of the trainee. Supra-ordinate factors of supervision viewed as permeating all aspects of professional development are proposed. These include the perspective that professional development is a lifelong, cumulative process requiring attention to diversity in all its forms, as well as legal and ethical issues, personal and professional factors, and self- and peer-assessment. A competencies framework is presented with particular elements representing knowledge (e.g., about psychotherapy, research, etc.), skills (including supervising modalities, relationship skills, etc.), values (e.g., responsibility for the clients and supervisee rests with supervisor, etc.), and meta-knowledge. Social contextual factors and issues of education and training, assessment, and future directions also are addressed, with specific elements listed. Suggestions for future work in this area are addressed, including the need to refine further and operationalize competences, develop clear expectations for accreditation and licensure regarding supervision competencies, and expand the description of developmental levels of supervisors from minimal to optimal competence. This is one of a series of articles published together in this issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology. Several other articles that resulted from the Competencies Conference: Future Directions in Education and Credentialing in Professional Psychology will appear in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice and The Counseling Psychologist.