Supervision

Supervisor Role

Supervisors are typically associated with the same agency or training program as their supervisees. They are responsible for ensuring that quality services are provided by the supervisees to their clients and that these services are delivered in a manner consistent with ethical guidelines of the profession (e.g., those of the American Psychological Association or the American Counseling Association) and relevant law. In addition, supervisors are also typically responsible for providing [Page 405]administrative oversight for the supervisee, making sure that procedures, paperwork, and so on required by the agency are followed. To accomplish this, supervisors must have ongoing access to all relevant information concerning the supervisee's work with clients, including client files, case notes, and assessment information as well as the ability to monitor the supervisee's interactions with clients through direct observation, video, or (minimally) audio recording mechanisms.

Supervisors typically meet weekly for at least an hour with each of their supervisees and may have additional meetings with groups of supervisees that allow trainees to learn from and give input to colleagues. It is also often necessary, depending upon the level of experience of the supervisee and the presence or absence of other qualified personnel at the agency, for the supervisor to be available at times when the supervisee is working with clients for immediate consultation or crisis intervention. Early on in the supervisory relationship, the availability of the supervisor and regular supervision sessions need to be arranged. In addition, mechanisms should be arranged for feedback to the supervisee from the supervisor and to the supervisor from the supervisee. The specific domains of professional practice that the supervisee will engage in and the method for evaluating the effectiveness of service delivery by the supervisee should be clarified and agreed upon. It is important that the supervisor is competent in the domains of professional practice that will be supervised in addition to having competence in the supervisory process itself.

Supervisors are also responsible for encouraging the professional development of their supervisees. Thus, supervisors need to be aware of the level of competence of their supervisees for the various professional activities they will engage in under supervision. Generally speaking, the less experience and competence the trainee has in particular activities, the more structure, specific direction, and information are provided by the supervisor. Supervisors should also be familiar with various modes of supervision (e.g., individual, group, direct observation, case conferences) as well as different classes of supervisory interventions (e.g., support, positive reinforcement, prescriptive directives, problem solving, process comments).

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