Clinical Supervision of Prelicensed Counselors: Recommendations for Consideration and Practice.

Abstract

Evidence of significant advances in expectations, theory, and practice of counselor supervision is multifarious and replete (Bernard & Goodyear, 1998; Borders, Cashwell, & Rotter, 1995; Magnuson & Wilcoxon, 1998a, 1998b). Whereas authors in the mid-1980s asserted that the existing pool of knowledge related to counselor supervision processes was deficient (Carifio & Hess, 1987; Goodyear & Bradley, 1983), contemporary supervisors have an abundance of texts, in addition to journals such as Counselor Education and Supervision and The Clinical Supervisor to guide their work. Refinement of supervision theory and practice has been catalyzed by credentialing bodies. For example, the National Board for Certified Counselors has authorized the Approved Clinical Supervisor credential (Bernard, 1998) and state counseling licensure boards have specified requirements for supervision of provisionally endorsed counselors. Postacademic supervised experience is a requirement for counselor licensure in 45 states (Counselor licensure, 1999); however, the specification of guidelines for skillfully providing the supervision is beyond the scope and purposes of such regulatory boards. Instruction, models, and recommendations for supervising prelicensed counselors, a discrete domain of practice, are sparse (Magnuson & Wilcoxon, 1998a). Consequently, supervisors often proceed without knowledge of regulatory expectations and appropriate procedures for supervising entry-level counselors (Hillman, McPherson, Swank, & Watkins, 1998; Nelson, Johnson, & Thorngren, in press). This article provides suggestions for structuring and enacting clinical supervision of postacademic, prelicensed counselors. Although the article is directed primarily to supervisors and prospective supervisors, it may also help counselors-in-training become more astute consumers of supervision. SUPERVISION: COUNSELORS-IN TRAINING VS. PRELICENSED COUNSELORS Guidelines and strategies for supervision of master's- and doctoral-level students are prevalent. However, supervision of prelicensed counselors differs from university-based supervision of counselors-in-training in noteworthy ways. For example, students are typically supervised by a team of university-based and field-based supervisors. In contrast, supervisors of prelicensed counselors often assume sole responsibility for overseeing supervisees' work without previous supervisors' assessments of supervisees' skills and knowledge and without the clarity of evaluation criteria provided by course syllabi and accreditation standards. General structures and proximity enable academic-based supervisors to closely monitor the clinical work of counselors-in-training. Conversely, supervisors of prelicensed counselors often have limited contact and opportunities to directly observe clinical performance. These factors may become more salient when supervisees apply for licensure, and the supervisors must independently ascertain that the applicants have achieved appropriate levels of competency. A significant contrast also emerges from the fee-for-service nature of post-academic supervision. Although counselors-in-training pay tuition, there is no direct business relationship between supervisors and supervisees. Another element of the postacademic business relationship is that supervisees are free to select their supervisors. These differences between supervision of counselors-in-training and supervision of prelicensed counselors have implications for each phase of supervision practice, beginning with preliminary preparation. SUPERVISION OF PRELICENSED COUNSELORS: PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS Similar to supervision in academic settings, effective supervision of prelicensed counselors is predicated upon preparation and consideration of pragmatic and theoretical factors (Hillman et al., 1998). Skillful supervision requires specialized preparation (Association for Counselor Education and Supervision [ACES], 1993; Bernard & Goodyear, 1998; Borders et al. …