Abstract
The need to train
on-site clinical supervisors often clashes with the practicality of time
constraints of a variety of counseling professionals, as well as a significant
geographical separation in which field sites exist away from the university
location. This article is an overview of how one university developed online
training to provide supervision training to clinical supervisors unable to
attend live training sessions, prior to intern placement at their sites.
Recognizing
a Need for Alternative Training Modalities
Increasing
access among school and community/agency counselors to the internet has
broadened the capacity for communication and training opportunities between
these organizations or institutions and local universities. In this way,
potential for improved training towards professional and student development
has dramatically increased, resulting in a more cooperative merger with few
drawbacks.
In
response to CACREP requirements that on-site supervisors receive training in
clinical supervision prior to supervising counseling interns, faculty in the
Counselor Education Department at Virginia Tech devised a web page that
attends to the needs of on-site supervisors unable to be present in a live
training session. As more graduate programs in counselor education are
becoming accredited under CACREP, the standards for having properly trained
supervisors in those placements have become increasingly important to
counseling interns hoping to receive training at particular schools or
agencies. Furthermore, having properly trained supervisors at field placements
is a critical issue to students falling under the new regulations issued by
some State Boards of Counseling who wish to count internship hours towards
hour requirements for licensed professional counselors. For example, in
Virginia this is 4,000 hours of experience with a minimum of 200 hours of
face-to-face supervision, which can begin after completion of 30 semester
hours. This requirement may be less or different in other states. To view the
new regulations established by the Virginia Board of Counseling, click (http://www.dhp.state.va.us/counseling/counseling_laws_regs.htm).
Advantages
of Web-Based Training
Certainly
there are advantages to live training sessions such as the 
opportunity for
in-person warmth and social interaction between university and on-site
supervisors. This can go a long way in sustaining professional alliances that
foster a positive learning environment for the student in both arenas.
However, there are clear advantages of the web-based training that are not
available to the same extent in live sessions. One such advantage involves the
ability to provide extensive information in a parsimonious and stationary
format that can be accessed anytime.
On-site
supervisors may choose to take advantage of the web page offerings in the
event that attendance at a live session is not possible. In this case, on-site
supervisors are provided with a variety of training points complete with
examples and video clip demonstrations that go beyond the scope of what might
be covered in the confines of a single live training session. These video clip
demonstrations provide examples of how one might approach a supervisee /
intern regarding various aspects of the clinical supervision process. This
would be especially helpful to those who have not experienced any formal
training in supervision and may be somewhat ambivalent about how to approach a
clinical supervision hour. Additionally, links to professional organization
standards as they relate to clinical supervision offers further instruction to
on-site supervisors about their roles and expectations inherent in agreeing to
supervise an intern.
An
interactive component occurs at the end of the web-based training in which the
counselors who were unable to attend a live training session can respond via
email to the university supervisor with a verification statement of receipt of
the training. In their email, on-site supervisors are encouraged to include
any questions or comments about any aspect of the web page. It is believed
that this will aid in providing an opportunity for more personal contact in
the use of technology, as well as communicate the desire for on-site
supervisors to understand the value of their thoughts and contributions to the
improvement of the web-based training.
The
biggest advantage of utilizing web-based training involves the capacity of a
web page to provide an ongoing reference for all on-site supervisors,
regardless of attendance at the live training session. At any time, on-site
supervisors may choose to access the web page for relevant information on a
variety of helpful aspects contained within the page. For example, an on-site
supervisor might be interested in locating a segment related to particular
stages of intern development in the clinical supervision process as the
semester progresses and the intern's skills are becoming more advanced, or
they might wish to get a refresher on the model for supervision structure, or
perhaps download a particular document to use in supervision.
Unique
Contributions of Web Page to Clinical Supervision
The
most unique feature of this web page is its focus on Clinical Supervision
Competencies. The seven Clinical Supervision Competencies are outlined with
goals for achieving each competency. In addition, as the web page progresses,
competencies are labeled throughout the training page according to aspects of
supervision that address each one. Select the following link to view the web
page (Copyright Pending) http://www.chre.vt.edu/aschnurm/.
The
Breakdown of the page begins with a brief sketch of the University's
expectations of counseling interns, as well as on-site supervisors. There is a
definition of Clinical Supervision (Bernard & Goodyear, 1992;1998)
with an overview of how it differs from Administrative Supervision. A Legal
and Ethical segment offers links to ACA Code of Ethics (http://www.counseling.org/resources/codeofethics.htm),
ACES Standards of Preparation and Practice of Counseling Supervisors (http://www.siu.edu/~epse1/aces/)
and NCC Standards for Clinical Supervision (http://www.nbcc.org/acs/overview.htm).
Highlighting Competencies for Clinical Supervision as described above follows
this.
Models
of Supervision for On-Site Supervisors are presented by outlining Nelson
and Johnson's (1999) integration of Bernard's (1979)
Discrimination Model and Littrell's
et al., (1979) Stages of Development. For
training purposes, this method of model integration was chosen based on its
ability to competently address roles experienced by the supervisor as well as
developmental stages typically experienced by counseling interns and their
covariance to one another as the internship progresses and the intern's skills
evolve. Concrete examples are offered to help ground the supervisors as they
explore supervision through the lens of different roles.
In
keeping with the assumption that many on-site supervisors have never received
formal training in clinical supervision, a segment is presented highlighting
the importance of the supervisory relationship between intern and on-site
supervisor. It covers such key aspects as supervisee anxiety and trust in
light of the evaluative nature of the relationship. A strength-based approach
is strongly recommended both as part of the supervisory relationship and
within the structured supervision hour each week.
Structuring
the Supervision Session
On-site
supervisors are provided instruction in the live training session about how
Virginia Tech structures the weekly clinical supervision hour at the
university and encourages the on-site supervisors to follow the structure as
it suits their needs. Getz
(1999), assistant professor at Virginia
Tech, developed this structure for supervision. The structure is a
strength-based approach that encourages supervisors to begin the process of
feedback to supervisees 
by elaborating on specific strengths that emerged from
the counseling session being presented by the supervisee. Lasting 50 minutes,
the clinical supervision session is divided between case discussion
and
supervisee goals and awareness for themselves in future sessions with the
client. This ensures that time is evenly disbursed in such a way that the
entire hour does not become too centered around the client or the case, as
is
often a hazard with many supervision sessions. This section of the web page
includes a video clip of Dr. Getz explaining more about the importance of a
structure for supervision and how to apply it in a supervision session.
Following
the structure for supervision is a segment on techniques and interventions
that might be applicable in a supervision session. It offers examples of
various techniques used in supervision, as well as questions that might be
posed to a supervisee in the course of a supervision session, in an effort to
enhance self-awareness and personal growth through supervision.
Along
with a request to email verification of training back to the university for
those who did not attend a live training session, on-site supervisors are
provided with a number of forms that might be helpful in supervising an
intern. They are encouraged to download the forms and use them as needed with
the students. The forms include an example of a supervision informed consent,
activity logs that must be completed by students, supervision structure forms,
forms and notes that must be regularly filled out by students, and evaluation
forms to assist in the necessary gatekeeping function of on-site and
university supervisors.
In summary, this article has described a practical and
interesting way in which to use web-teaching as an information delivery system
from a university counselor education program to site supervisors in community
and school settings. In addition to presenting clinical supervision didactic
material on the web site, hypertext links are included to expand the readers'
connection to professional material located at other web sites and to allow
them to download important supervision forms for their use. Video clips
streamlined into the material provide practical demonstrations of clinical
supervision. Lastly, there is an interactive component in which field based
supervisors can communicate directly with the university supervisor. This
mixed media approach using web-based learning is an innovative example of the
future possibilities for more linking between university and community
settings.
References
Bernard,
J. M. (1979). Supervisor training: A discrimination model. Counselor
Education and Supervision, 19, 60-68.
Bernard,
J. M., & Goodyear, R. K. (1992). Fundamentals of clinical supervision.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Bernard,
J. M., & Goodyear, R. K. (1998). Fundamentals of clinical supervision.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Getz,
H. G. (1999). Assessment of clinical supervisor competencies. Journal of
Counseling & Development, 77, 491-497.
Littrell,
J. M., Lee-Borden, N., & Lorenz, J. A. (1979). A developmental framework
for counseling supervision. Counselor Education and Supervision, 19,
129-136.
Nelson,
T. S., & Johnson, L. N. (1999). The basic skills evaluation devise. Journal
of Marital and Family Therapy, 25, 15-30.
