Supervision competence
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Can't say I ever visited textbooks/articles since I didn't necessarily find what I had previously encountered to be especially helpful.
What did help me was to write out a bunch of concrete and aspirational expectations that I had for myself and for a trainee, reflect on areas of possible strengths as a supervisor and areas of possible weaknesses/blind spots, and identify some concrete strategies/processes in advance in terms of how I can be flexible and attentive to their needs (practicum student vs postdoc).
Personally, I love supervising in the VA and hope it's enjoyable for you!
What did help me was to write out a bunch of concrete and aspirational expectations that I had for myself and for a trainee, reflect on areas of possible strengths as a supervisor and areas of possible weaknesses/blind spots, and identify some concrete strategies/processes in advance in terms of how I can be flexible and attentive to their needs (practicum student vs postdoc).
Personally, I love supervising in the VA and hope it's enjoyable for you!
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I’ve found the IDM model to be helpful, especially for getting beginning trainees out of that “tell me what to do” phase: https://www.mycasat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Integrated_Devlopment_Model_of_Supervision.pdf
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One thing that I have found really helpful for actual f2f supervising is modeling what I think is good learning/growth facilitating behaviors, rather than sitting back and waiting for the trainee to drive that process. And anything that I would expect a trainee to do, I should also hold myself accountable to that behavior (as adjusted to fit my role as the supervisor).
For example, I am very honest with my supervisees about what I think I'm good at & the lens through which I generally view psychology/therapy and based on this, I will always have blind spots but I am super open to examining those blind spots and alternatives. I want them to be confident about things they think they are developing early competencies in while also recognizing that there's a whole lot out there that our core competencies won't necessarily cover.
And that my 'expert' role as a supervisor isn't limited to teaching you how to do a treatment (which I can & will if that's what's most important for supervision) but that I'm really here to guide the process between action, evaluation and reflection.
(Off tangent but I have having no-shows/cancels up the waazoo these last couple of weeks lol)
For example, I am very honest with my supervisees about what I think I'm good at & the lens through which I generally view psychology/therapy and based on this, I will always have blind spots but I am super open to examining those blind spots and alternatives. I want them to be confident about things they think they are developing early competencies in while also recognizing that there's a whole lot out there that our core competencies won't necessarily cover.
And that my 'expert' role as a supervisor isn't limited to teaching you how to do a treatment (which I can & will if that's what's most important for supervision) but that I'm really here to guide the process between action, evaluation and reflection.
(Off tangent but I have having no-shows/cancels up the waazoo these last couple of weeks lol)
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I am brushing up on my supervision skills because I have all the no-shows today.
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I'm a fan of Carol Falender's work. She has some resources on her website, which might be helpful to you:
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Wow, we are on the same wave length today, that was going to be my rec too.
John Norcross has published a number of foundational articles about psych supervision over the years. IIRC there have been multiple special edition journal publications covering different supervision models. I don't have the citations in front of me bc it was forever ago, but during training we spent a few weeks comparing and contrasting different models, which I found incredibly helpful.
From a practical standpoint, one of the biggest pitfalls I see supervisors fall into is confusing "eclectic" v. "integrative" v. a free for all of interventions w/o a clear unifying framework. I believe it was Norcross who wrote a great article about trying to utilize different interventions who's frameworks were not fully compatible. As you'd expect, it doesn't usually go well. I personally like the IDM approach because it is a natural fit for how many people learn.
More recently (<5 years) there was a special issue that came out about supervisees and supervision approaches. I only skimmed it, but that could be worth digging up too.
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I really like Yalom and Carl Rogers when it comes to supervising for therapy, at least in regard to getting the trainee in a good framework/mindset. There are more soft skills that can be picked up from their writings, but those areas can be just as important. Being able to establish rapport and gain buy-in are sometimes assumed skills in a clinician, but training can definitely vary. Norcross and others are good for talking about the underlying theory and frameworks of different approaches, but the FEEL of conducting effective therapy and what that process is like is what Yalom and Rogers do a nice job of describing.
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As a current student, I absolutely love supervision when it's an opportunity to learn and not be scolded about what I did wrong or berated when I didn't do something exactly the way my supervisor wanted or would have. If I had to pick one most important quality for a supervisor, it would be them fulfilling a mentor-mentee relationship where I'm allowed autonomy and not intimidated to ask questions. If I mess up, let's talk about what I did and my thought process as to why I did it. Then make it a learning experience about your approach and how I can think from a different perspective. If I did something well? Positive reinforcement is a great thing for anyone to hear, especially a supervisee.
It seems self-explanatory, but MAN there are some people out there that struggle with being a positive, encouraging mentor.
It seems self-explanatory, but MAN there are some people out there that struggle with being a positive, encouraging mentor.
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I have already had one of those brain tingling moments watching the interns practice a task together. Evaluating a skill from different styles and perspectives crystallizes the value of the skill in ways hard to gather by just preforming the skill myself. Ex: I always struggled with open-ended questions as a trainee. I am better, but it's easy to backslide. I got to see how it makes a huge difference in the quality of the interview. I knew that, but now I really know it! Very cool.
This experience also highlights how much easier it is to have space for these more metacognitive processes when I'm not in the middle of training. I was too busy looking for free food and finishing up my dissertation.
I am really appreciative of all the resources posted in the thread.
This experience also highlights how much easier it is to have space for these more metacognitive processes when I'm not in the middle of training. I was too busy looking for free food and finishing up my dissertation.
I am really appreciative of all the resources posted in the thread.
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I don't know much 'bout no fancy supervision models, but I do know that I like a strengths-based approach.
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Just want to add to the support for the Shafranske and Falender book. I was fortunate enough to receive clinical supervision from Shafranske and also take several courses with him and Dr. Falender taught a good class on child therapy.
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My style is very different, but it was really helpful to think of some of the questions she presents. I very rarely address microaggressions in session. I have discussed it very broadly if it might impacting their relationships, but I also know I'm conflict avoidant. I can lean very heavily on "this is not relevant to therapy" but I know if I sit with it for a second longer, I don't usually want to have the conversation period. That's good content to sit with because I'll err on the side of ignoring it even when it may actually be beneficial to discuss it. When I take on students, I have to think about how everyone has a different approach and make space for that.
