The authors seek to explore effective and ineffective supervision though qualitative and quantitative inquiries across supervision experiences of supervisees.
Effective supervisor skills, techniques and behaviours included: encouraging supervisee autonomy including self-directed decision making and performance; a strengthened supervisory relationship by way of supervisor support, acceptance, encouragement, respect, trust, empathy and open-mindedness; open discussion in which the supervisor listened to supervisees in order to promote learning and growth; positive personal and professional qualities; demonstration of clinical knowledge and skills; providing constructive challenge; an ability to provide positive, negative, or both types of feedback; and encouragement and valuing supervision.
On the other hand, ineffective supervisor skills, techniques, or behaviours included: depreciating supervision; ineffective client conceptualization and treatment; weakened supervisory relationship by way of supervisor’s condescension, humiliation, distrust, lack or support and respect, uncomfortable nonverbal behaviors, inappropriate boundaries, lack of understanding of supervisee’s feelings, needs, and desires; insufficient knowledge and skill development; insufficient observation and feedback; an emphasis on evaluation and limitations; negative personal and professional qualities, as well as expressing a dominating attitude towards supervision; and a lack of and misapplication of theory.
Nicholas Ladany, Yoko Mori & Kristen E Mehr, “Effective and Ineffective Supervision” (2013) 41:1 Counseling Psychologist 28.
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