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Supervisor behavior at client-therapist impasse
Abstract
This study explored the supervision process within community mental health agencies. This process was conceptualized as consisting of three categories of supervisor intervention, Theory/Information (TH), Technique (TQ), and Personal Self-Knowledge (PSK), which were used in working with psychotherapists; a fourth category (OT) captured other types of interventions which emerged. Using a descriptive case study approach, this researcher sought to identify areas of intervention emphasis which supervisors exhibited and the relative role of PSK interventions. Twelve clinical supervisors, holding advanced degrees, were interviewed and asked to recall their supervision approach to two client-therapist impasses, one recalled as positive and one as negative. The criteria for these choices included supervisors' perceptions of success at renewing therapeutic movement within the treatment relationship. Transcripts of interviews were systematically examined to determine patterns of intervention activity and differences between positive and negative recalls. Representative portions of transcripts were illustrated in detail. A pattern emerged which revealed that supervisors most often intervened in TH-related ways and most often thought about intervention is PSK-related ways. This was discussed as a decision-making process in which supervisors assumed dual responsibilities for overseeing clients' treatment planning and supervisees' clinical learning. It was revealed that the more successful recalls were characterized by blended TH and PSK intervention approaches which addressed clients' treatment needs and supported clinicians' learning needs; these recalls included specific types of PSK interventions, labelled first- and second-level facilitators, which were discussed as effective strategies for promoting therapeutic movement. Less successful recalls were characterized by the absence of second-level facilitators and more blended intervention approaches. These were discussed in terms of a reduced supervisory commitment to resolution of the impasse which resulted from supervisors' responses to problems within the supervisory relationship. This researcher concluded that problems at the supervisory level interfered with effective impasse resolution and affected supervisors' clinical objectivity; recommendations for research and practice were offered and changes were advocated in the institutional support and training of supervisors.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|School counseling|Clinical psychology
Recommended Citation
Milsop, Garry W. L, "Supervisor behavior at client-therapist impasse" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9022721.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9022721