Date of Award

Fall 1998

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

W. Brad Johnson

Second Advisor

Clark Campbell

Third Advisor

Chris Koch

Abstract

This study investigated changes among beginning supervisors as they gained experience. Over three administrations in the course of an academic year, beginning supervisors (N = 14, 57% female) and their supervisees (N = 36, 58% female) provided ratings that offered mixed support for developmental changes among beginning supervisors. Significant increases were noted on the Supervisor Evaluation Ratings (SER) for satisfaction with supervision, supervisor competence, and efficacy of supervisor interventions. On the Level of Supervision Scale (LSS), supervisors reported a mild preference for offering case conceptualizations in supervision and a mild preference against using didactic instruction. Supervisors strongly preferred a collaborative style over an authoritative style. On the Supervisor Style Inventory (SSI), beginning supervisors' styles were consistently rated as attractive and interpersonally sensitive. Supervisors rated themselves as decreasingly task-oriented, but supervisees contradicted them revealing the impact of supervision roles on perceptions. Beginning supervisors consistently chose interventions focused on the supervisee rather than on the client on the Critical Incidents in Counselor Supervision - Form B, Revised (CICS-BR). The study did not find evidence for a "cognitive shift" from the counselor to supervisor role, but such a shift may have previously occurred as the result of training and not actual supervision experience. Age and previous training influenced supervisor ratings initially, but the importance of demographic variables became insignificant as supervisors gained experience. Overall, results were consistent with developmental theories that describe beginning supervisors as moving from an anxious, tentative and less active approach to increased confidence, activity and effectiveness.

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Psychology Commons

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