Critical Events in Psychotherapy Supervision: An Interpersonal Approach

Critical Events in Psychotherapy Supervision helps supervisors understand the dilemmas they most frequently encounter when supervising psychotherapist trainees. Such dilemmas may include ambiguity about roles, misunderstandings related to cultural background and gender, problematic attitudes and behavior, skill deficits, countertransference, and sexual attraction to clients. Resolving these difficulties effectively is particularly important in the supervisor-supervisee relationship, because doing so models positive ways of handling interactions with clients.

Drawing on their extensive supervisory experience, the authors propose a model for turning problems into opportunities for growth. By closely analyzing transcripts of dialogs between trainees and supervisors, they show how dilemmas can be identified, mutually explored, and overcome. The dialogs make for fascinating reading and illustrate a range of situations commonly encountered during the supervision of mental health professionals.

This book offers solutions for academic and clinical supervisors in fields such as counseling and guidance, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, social work, and psychiatric nursing.

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. Toward an Events-Based Understanding of the Supervisory Process
2. Remediating Skill Difficulties and Deficits: It's More Than Just Teaching
3. Heightening Multicultural Awareness: It's Never Been About Political Correctness
4. Negotiating Role Conflicts: If It Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Called Supervision
5. Working Through Countertransference: When Super-Vision Is Needed
6. Managing Sexual Attraction: Talking About Sex in Supervision
7. Repairing Gender-Related Misunderstandings and Missed Understandings: It's Not Just "He Said, She Said"
8. Addressing Problematic Emotions, Attitudes, and Behaviors: Counseling In Versus Counseling Out
9. Final Thoughts: The Long and Short of It

References

Author Index

Subject Index

About the Authors

Nicholas Ladany, PhD, is an associate professor and program coordinator and director of doctoral training in the Counseling Psychology Program in the Department of Education and Human Services at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Prior to this, he was assistant professor at Temple University and a visiting faculty member at the University of Maryland. He received his PhD at the University at Albany, State University of New York in 1992. He has published numerous articles and presented nationally and internationally in the area of psychotherapy supervision and training.

In addition, his primary research interest and activity include the interrelationships between supervision process and outcome and psychotherapy process and outcome, including such issues as the working alliance, self-disclosures and nondisclosures, multicultural training, and ethics. In 2001, he received the Outstanding Early Career Achievement Award from the Society for Psychotherapy Research. He is the associate editor of Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, and Training and coedited the book Counselor Supervision: Principles, Process, and Practice. He is a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania.

Myrna L. Friedlander, PhD, is a professor and director of doctoral training in the Division of Counseling Psychology in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She received her PhD from The Ohio State University in 1980. A licensed psychologist in New York, she has served as clinician, educator, supervisor, and consultant in a variety of schools, counseling centers, hospitals, and community agencies. She is the 2001–2002 recipient of the Distinguished Psychologist Award from the Psychological Association of Northeastern New York, and in 1999, she received the University at Albany President's Award for Excellence in Research.

Dr. Friedlander's theory and research on supervision and the process of psychotherapy have appeared in book chapters and many different refereed journals. A supervisor for over 25 years, she coauthored three instruments on training and supervision, the Self-Efficacy Inventory (Friedlander & Snyder, 1983), the Supervisory Styles Inventory (Friedlander & Ward, 1984), and the Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity Inventory (Oik & Friedlander, 1992). She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology; she is a member of the Society for Psychotherapy Research and is an adjunct clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Albany Medical College. She is currently an editorial board member of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, and Training, and Psychotherapy Research. She is a licensed psychologist in New York.

Mary Lee Nelson, PhD, is an associate professor in counseling psychology at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. She received her PhD in counseling psychology at the University of Oregon in 1989. She worked as a staff psychologist and trainer in student counseling centers at both the University of Oregon and the University of Washington, where she served as coordinator of training. She is a licensed psychologist in Washington State and conducted a psychotherapy and supervision practice in Seattle for 11 years. She was also on the counseling faculty of educational psychology at the University of Washington for 12 years. She has taken coursework at the Center for Object Relations in Seattle and was a member of the Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study.

Dr. Nelson conducts process research on gender, power, and conflict in clinical relationships, particularly supervision. She has published numerous articles and chapters on these topics and others, including methods of training mental health practitioners. She has reviewed for several counseling and psychotherapy journals and currently serves on the editorial board of The Counseling Psychologist and Psychotherapy Research. She is a licensed psychologist in Wisconsin.

This is one of the finest books on supervision I have read. It is practical, easy-to-read, and addresses the tough issues. The vignettes are superb and teach volumes. It is must reading for all those who will supervise.
—Doody Enterprises, Inc.

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