Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology

Abstract

Since the 1980s, there has been a movement towards using a competency-based approach as a way to measure and evaluate the progress of students and trainees in professional psychology. A core competency that has been defined is individual and cultural diversity, which includes the areas of religious and spiritual diversity. Research has shown that the primary way graduate students learn about religious and spiritual diversity is through clinical experiences, especially supervision (Vogel, McMinn, Peterson, & Gathercoal, in press Worthington et al., 2009). Therefore, it is important for supervisors to be aware of the expected knowledge, skills and attitudes students should demonstrate to attain competency as well as their role in facilitating the development of these skills. Regardless of the vital role played by supervisors in training students in religious and spiritual diversity, the majority of supervisors have not received training specific to this area of competency (Aten & Hernandez, 2004 McMinn, Hathaway, Woods, & Snow, 2009). In an effort to address this gap between supervisors' previous training and current expectations for supervision in this area, supervisors were invited to participate in a training designed to help them understand and assess students' knowledge, skills and attitudes in working with religious and spiritual diversity in the clinical setting. A survey was given before and after the training assessing supervisors' perception of their knowledge and confidence in supervising students in the area of religious and spiritual diversity. Results indicated that the training increased supervisors' confidence in providing supervision to students in the area of religious and spiritual diversity. Further training for supervisors can be instrumental in improving the quality of the supervision they provide to graduate students in regard to issues of religious and spiritual diversity.

Included in

Psychology Commons

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