Towards Best Practice Supervision of Clinical Psychology Trainees

TLDR

Supervision is mandated in clinical psychology training and is intended to serve normative, restorative, and formative functions, yet research indicates it currently achieves only the restorative and formative aspects. The study proposes recommendations to improve supervision by systematically assessing supervisee competence and client outcomes and reconciling normative functions with other functions. The authors describe a framework that includes systematic assessment of supervisee competence and client outcomes and options for reconciling normative supervision with restorative and formative functions. The study finds that current supervision practice has not been shown to be effective in achieving its normative functions.

Abstract

Supervision of professional practice is mandated in the training of clinical psychologists and consensually agreed to be central in such training. Supervision is intended to serve three related, but somewhat conflicting, functions: (1) normative functions of monitoring and ensuring client well‐being, and monitoring and evaluating supervisee competence; (2), restorative functions of supporting supervisee personal and professional well‐being; and (3) formative functions of educating and guiding supervisee's professional practice. Research suggests supervision as currently practised can achieve the restorative—and to some extent, the formative—functions of supervision. However, current supervision practice has not been demonstrated to be effective in its normative functions. Recommendations on how to enhance supervision practice are described, which include systematic assessment of supervisee competence and client outcome and options for reconciling the normative function of supervision with the other functions.