Clinical Supervision Methodology – A Case Study
A variety of methods were used to help the supervisee develop counseling skills, case conceptualization, her ability to self evaluate, and professional role development. Along with monitoring and evaluating, advising and instructing, I tried to support her and her professional growth and to share my experiences with clients, including mistakes I made.
We worked on developing treatment plans as she needed this skill for her work in the agencies. We went to the bookstore and she purchased one of the excellent treatment planning guides, and I helped her walk through choosing the long-term goals, short-term objectives, and therapeutic interventions. She was resistant to this process because of her postmodern orientation, but as I helped her see that she could choose the goals, objectives, and interventions that she was comfortable with and disregard the others, she became more open to the process. I reviewed her charts throughout our work and am happy to report she developed the ability to write good treatment plans.
Each week she would self-report on cases about which she had questions, and I would attempt to help her conceptualize the case. I helped her with the DSM-IV which she also was adverse to due to her theoretical orientation, but I persisted in helping her understand the efficacy of starting with the descriptive indicators to formulate a case. I used supportive teaching interventions, working to increase her self-confidence at knowing who was sitting in the room with her.
We roleplayed working with one of her conduct disordered teens, trying out different interventions and watching some of them fall flat. I gave her clinical articles on working with antisocial personality disorders, and on how to know which therapies are effective with which clients. I had her research DBT on the Internet. I gave her advice on professional development when she had questions about whether or not to develop her bilingual skills (yes!).
We discussed countertransference and the some of the supervisee’s family of origin issues. At one point, she became demoralized, questioning if she was even cut out to be a therapist, and I highlighted her strengths and normalized this as part of the process. Her use of self was restricted as she tried to turn herself into Michael White, and I attempted to help her understand that she would develop her own way of being a therapist based on her authentic self, including her background as an educator. Unfortunately, her interpretation of postmodern therapy left her alienated from herself as she did not believe in psychotherapy as psychoeducation. I shared research with her that psychoeducation is the preferred treatment for certain populations, e.g. anger management clients. I also had to use confrontation to encourage her to try harder with the court ordered boys and not just shrug and wait until her time was up.
© 2010 Catherine Auman
Catherine Auman, MFT is a CAMFT Certified Supervisor and psychotherapist with over 25 years experience based in Los Angeles, Calfornia. She has advanced training in both traditional and alternative methodologies based on ancient traditions and wisdom teachings. Visit her online at http://www.catherineauman.com.