Contribution of supervisor interventions to client change: The therapist perspective

Psychometric properties of the Alliance and Negotiation Scale-Supervision Version

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the psychometric properties of the Alliance Negotiation Scale-Supervision Version (ANS-S) for clinical trainees. Analyses were designed to evaluate the relationship between the ANS-S and other measures of supervision process and outcome.

METHOD

Online surveys included items from established measures in addition to questions about supervisor and supervisee training experiences. The survey was administered to a sample of mental health clinicians practicing under a licensed supervisor (N = 113).

RESULTS

The ANS-S (a 12-item unidimensional scale) demonstrated sound psychometric properties, including evidence of reliability as well as content and construct validity.

CONCLUSIONS

The ANS-S was associated with several related supervision measures and outcome variables in the expected directions. These results extend previous findings on the ANS' psychometric integrity and offer a validated measure that can be used in further research on supervision.

Therapist Expertise

In this rejoinder, we respond to comments raised by Goodyear, Wampold, Tracey, and Lichtenberg; Norcross and Karpiak; Reese; and O’Shaughnessy, Du, and Davis about the definition of expertise and methods for increasing expertise. The most consensus among these authors was found for client outcomes as a criterion of expertise and practice as a mechanism for increasing expertise. Until we have better empirical evidence, however, we suggest keeping the eight criteria that we originally proposed to measure expertise (performance, cognitive processing, client outcomes, experience, personal qualities, self-assessment, reputation, credentials), as well as the four mechanisms for increasing expertise (training, practice, feedback, and personal therapy). We challenge future researchers to hone the list and determine how to weight the various criteria and mechanisms based on empirical evidence.