Psychoanalytic developmental psychology and the supervision of psychotherapy supervisor trainees

While literature on psychotherapy supervision abounds, literature on supervisor supervision (i.e., the actual supervision of a supervisor trainee who is in the process of learning to supervise) is far more scarce. How might the supervision of supervision process be best understood? What is the developmental experience of supervisor trainees? How can supervisors effectively intervene when working with supervisor trainees? Those questions have been addressed in only the most meagre fashion, and guidance on how to engage in the supervision of supervision is sorely lacking. In this paper, a psychoanalytic developmental framework is used to provide a means of conceptualising the supervisor trainee experience and to suggest a programme by which supervisors can best respond to their supervisor trainees' needs. Supervisor trainee ‘unfolding’ and ‘becoming’ are captured within a developmental progression that punctuates separation and individuation processes. The place of the supervisor – in holding and containing, loosening and liberating, buffering and bolstering, and refuelling and reloading – is considered in the facilitation of supervisor trainee development.     

Ethical considerations in the supervision of applied sport psychology graduate students

Abstract

Some of the most important relationships that a sport psychologist experiences in his or her career are between the supervisor and supervisee in applied practica and internships. These relationships may become models for future professional and ethical behavior with colleagues, students, and clients, and thus deserve careful examination. Ethics form a foundation for practice, and while classroom discussions of ethical issues help educate graduate students, the supervisor-supervisee relationship may provide a hands-on experience of ethical dilemmas and ethical problem solving. Ethics in supervisor-supervisee relationships cover at least two broad areas. First, there is the supervisor's monitoring and mentoring of ethical considerations in the supervisee's relationship with the athlete-client. Second, ethical questions arise in the relationship between the supervisor and the supervisee. The present paper includes discussion of general supervisory issues (e.g., modeling ethical behavior, helping develop counseling skills) and explores the specific ethical problems of referring for counseling, intimacy, and exploitation. Also, three case examples illustrate ethical concerns that may appear in the process of applied sport psychology supervision. Broadening education in ethical issues in supervision for both psychology and exercise science graduate programs may help future practitioners better serve their clients.     

Family therapy and clinical psychology

The results of a survey of 111 clinical psychologists in the Republic of Ireland along with some comparable data from US and UK surveys were used to address a series of questions about the link between family therapy and clinical psychology. Family therapy was not a clearly identifiable sub-specialty within clinical psychology in Ireland. Family therapy theoretical models were used by more than a quarter of the Irish sample to conceptualize their work but by less than a tenth of US and UK respondents. In all three countries about a tenth of treatment time was devoted to the practice of family therapy. In Ireland, the use of family systems models, family assessment interviews and family therapy was more common within the child and family specialty than within the mental handicap or adult mental health clinical psychology specialties. The experience of live supervision and participation in family or couples therapy were important formative factors in the development of some clinical psychologists. Further training in systemic consultation, particularly in situations where an abuse of power has occurred, was identified in the survey as a priority area for continuing professional development. The evolving relationship between family therapy and clinical psychology is discussed in the light of these findings.     

The community-based supervision of offenders from a positive psychology perspective

In this paper we outline a new model of supervision practices for offenders who are supervised in community settings. Much of the previous work in this area utilized deficits based approaches that primarily seek to reduce risk or remove offence-related behaviors or thinking. We suggest that the concept of well-being or human flourishing that is articulated in the positive psychology literature has important implications for how offender supervision services could be delivered. We propose that the effectiveness of supervision can be further improved if supervising officers are able to integrate practices which promote psychological protective factors in addition to managing risk of further offending. We further suggest that positive psychological practices can be used to develop a more comprehensive and effective model of supervisory practices. In particular, case supervision designed to increase psychological flexibility, self-efficacy, optimism, and hope are hypothesized to be especially effective in ensuring compliance and promoting the adoption of pro social lifestyles.     

Quality control and the practice of clinical psychology

Because of current health care reforms, quality control, accountability, and cost-effectiveness have become important issues in the practice of clinical psychology. It is imperative that practicing clinicians begin to evaluate their services to assess whether they demonstrate high quality and cost-effectiveness, as well as a continued commitment to qualify improvement. Deming's (1986) approach to quality control is discussed as a useful strategy for improving effectiveness in the practice of clinical psychology. This approach emphasizes the process of identification of the client population, improvements through incremental processes, and evaluation of outcomes. Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) techniques are also reviewed as useful ways in which to supplement and improve on Deming's approach to quality control. Science and quality control are discussed as being inherently coherent. The scientist—practitioner model dictates that services provided to clients should be rigorously evaluated. Various procedures for evaluating the quality of services provided in clinical practice are discussed.     

Developmental theory and the practice of clinical child psychology

Examined developmental theory and its relevance for the practice of clinical child psychology. Following a brief review of basic principles of developmental psychology and developmental psychopathology, implications of a developmental perspective are explored for the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of childhood disorders. Although it is obvious that many developmental issues confront the clinical child psychologist and that we have learned much about translating developmental theory into clinical practice, we conclude we have a long way to go before we can assert that a true developmental-clinical child interface has been realized.     

Comparison of counseling and clinical psychology graduates on the examination for professional practice in psychology

Doctoral recipients in clinical psychology scored higher than doctoral recipients in counseling psychology on the national licensing exam, the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology. The largest discrepancies between the 2 groups were on Subtest I (diagnosis), Subtest II (intervention), and Subtest III (research). The differences were less large for Subtest IV (professional/ethical/legal issues) and for Subtest V (social application). The authors recommend that both counseling and clinical psychology graduate students take more course work in the department of the other discipline.     

The development of counselling psychology in a clinical psychology service

This paper will describe one Clinical Psychology department's efforts to incorporate Counselling Psychology into the service. It is written from the experience of the Chartered Counselling Psychologist.     

Survey of current clinical and research trends in clinical psychology

A survey of the directors of APA accredited clinical psychology programs was conducted to explore current trends in the training of clinical psychologists. Specifically, information was obtained regarding the research areas represented at each school, the types of clinical training sites available to graduate students, and the prevalence of different clinical orientations (e.g., cognitive-behavioral, systems, or psychoanalytic). Results of the survey provide a summary of the activities of faculty and students at the more than 100 fully accredited clinical psychology programs.     

On the role of behaviorism in clinical psychology

This discussion presents the viewpoints of five well-known psychologists on the role of behaviorism in clinical psychology. The article is a condensed version of a symposium presented at the 1978 annual APA convention.     

Health psychology and clinical psychology: a comparison through content analysis.

Extension of a previous analysis of articles published in two journals representative of health psychology and two in health education showed some similarities and differences. The present analysis of 100 papers from two journals in health psychology and 495 from two in clinical psychology clearly shows health as a subspecialty of clinical psychology.     

Psychotherapeutics and the problematic origins of clinical psychology in America

The problematic place of psychotherapy within the larger history of scientific psychology is reviewed, especially in the absence of any definitive history of clinical psychology yet written. Although standard histories of psychology imply that psychotherapy was somehow derived from the tradition of German laboratory science, modern historiography reveals a dramatically different story. Personality, abnormal, social, and clinical psychology have their roots in an international psychotherapeutic alliance related more to French neurophysiology, and this alliance flourished for several decades before psychoanalysis. Reconstruction of the American contribution to this alliance, the so-called Boston school of abnormal psychology, suggests an era of medical psychology in advance of today. Note is also made of the possible misattribution of Lightner Witmer as the father of clinical psychology.