A Supervisor's Journal
Clinical Supervision
, Law and Ethics

Part I- Supervising a first year intern

Fulfills CA BBS Supervision
and Law & Ethics Training Requirements

Includes Play Therapy Supervision

by Anonymous, LMFT

A continuing education course for 6 ces
APT, BRN, CA BBS, FL, NAADAC, NASW, NBCC, OH, TX

meeting the CA BBS & BOP requirements for Supervision and Law & Ethics

Faster than a speeding bullet
More powerful than a locomotive!
Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!
Look! Up in the sky!
It's a bird! It's a plane!
It's Super...visor!
(You are kidding, right? No one can live up to that!)

In this course, we will cover aspects of supervision, including:

Legal and ethical issues in clinical supervision

Current laws and regulations pertaining to supervision

Supervisor's responsibilities

Records to keep

Roles and functions of Clinical Supervisor

Models of clinical supervision

Mental health related professional development

Methods and techniques in clinical supervision

Supervisory relationship issues

Cultural issues in clinical supervision

Evaluation of supervisee competence and the supervision process

Reverberations in the 3-dimensional Interpersonal Field between supervisor and supervisee as it parallels the field between supervisee and his or her patient

And, in blue, the Journal of an anonymous supervisor, including raw and unedited countertransference material, as well as examples of Parallel Process in action

Featuring excerpts from DSM-S - The DSM-Supervisors, with a special examination of DSM-S 004.78 -Engaging in an Act of Desperation by Desperate Supervisor

Contains an extensive Supervision Bibliography

Please note that many of the legal and ethical considerations are repeated in Parts II & III of the Clinical Supervision series.

Applies to supervising interns, trainees, social work associates, psychological assistants; to anyone in the Helping Professions of psychology, social work, counseling, psychotherapy, etc.

Take the test online! Print out your own certificate! This course counts as a 'regular' (not self-study) course by the CA BBS!

Learning Objectives

In this 6 unit course, Clinical Supervisors will:

Be able to identify components of ethical professional conduct in the supervision of a first year intern.

Become more familiar with the legal issues regarding child abuse, patient/therapist privilege, Tarasoff Issues and the mandated responsibilities of the supervisor.
 
Be able to identify issues that may be associated with confidentiality, including client welfare, competence/scope of practice and informed consent, as they apply to supervision.

Be aware of the specific laws and ethics in regard to supervision.
 
Be cognizant of the clinical issues involved in the supervision relationship.
 
Be able to identify scope of practice and have resources for outside consultation in supervision.
 
Be cognizant of the role of countertransference in the supervisory relationship, and the concept of parallel process.

 

 

This course meets the qualifications for 6 hours of continuing education units

Cost of the course is $66, which includes the online material (which you may print out yourself), the post-test, and the certificate. Hard copies of the course material cost $30, plus shipping and handling. If you wish to read the material, but do not need units, you may order the 'e-book', or online material, for $20.)

 

Note: This journal appeared anonymously in our e-mail box. With it was this note:

"Please use this as a supervision course. I am staying anonymous, because it contains very raw and honest countertransference material, and I am afraid that it will ruin my reputation when therapists see how my shadow emerged when I was supervising. I am particularly embarrassed about the times when I had an urge to 'throttle my intern'. I do hope that you will publish this as a course, however. I think it will help supervisors to hear about a truthful account of supervision. I also included the law and ethics stuff, but the journal is mostly about my experience as a supervisor. Thank you."

Excerpt from:

A Supervisor's Journal
Clinical Supervision
, Law and Ethics

Part I- Supervising a first year intern

by Anonymous, LMFT

(Choose one or both of the following statements as true:)

I sat down, eager to meet my new supervisee. I remembered, over the years, supervising many, many interns and trainees, with varying degrees of experience. I always looked forward to the first session, as everyone who I have supervised to date has brought me new awareness and insight into the art and science of psychotherapy.
or
I sat down, reluctant to meet my new supervisee. I remembered, over the years, supervising many, many interns and trainees, with varying degrees of experience.
I always dreaded the first session, as everyone who I have supervised to date has brought me new awareness and insight into my own shadow.
(I think I would have to choose both!)
'Daniel' (all names and identifying details have been changed) followed me into the consultation room, glancing at me through wire-rimmed glasses, not really making eye contact. He immediately took out a pen, to start taking notes. He looked scared; no doubt concerned that I would judge him, finding him inexperienced, incompetent, and whatever else his self-doubt could throw at him. (Boy, was I wrong about Daniel! After our session, I ran to my well-thumbed copy of the DSM-S - The DSM-Supervisors, and realized that I had succumbed to DSM-S 378 -Engaging in an Act of Projection onto Intern by Supervisor.) He had been assigned to me by the Counseling Center, and this was our first meeting. My agenda was to begin to get to know him, to put him at ease, and to review the legal and ethical implications of being an intern.
He looks awfully serious, I think. Maybe in his early thirties. This is his first placement; I remember when I first started seeing clients, in my first internship, when I was 24. I felt so scared! I knew I didn't know anything, although I would never admit it to my supervisor. I hope Daniel's in therapy; and, unfortunately, the Counseling Center cannot require therapy for its interns. Learning to be a therapist is really painful at times. I think the closest model is that of initiation. If it feels excruciating, and that every bone is broken, and every part of your psyche activated, then you will probably end up being a good therapist. If you just cruise through, you won't ever be able to go to the depths with your clients. Poor Daniel! I bet he doesn't have a clue what he is in for!

There is a resonance in the field between supervisee and supervisor, a 'parallel process' that occurs in supervision, so I wanted to model for Daniel the feeling of an initial session, as he would soon be starting to see clients. Initial sessions can be problematic in supervision, as there is a lot of ground to cover regarding responsibilities, law and ethics, paperwork, things to review, as well as the most important part, which is beginning to get a sense of the person. In some ways this is akin to an initial therapy session, particularly in a clinic setting where there are intake forms, releases, notification of intern status, etc.

The concept of parallel process has its origin in the psychoanalytic concepts of transference and countertransference. The transference occurs when the counselor recreates the presenting problem and emotions of the therapeutic relationship within the supervisory relationship. Countertransference occurs when the supervisor responds to the counselor in the same manner that the counselor responds to the client. Thus, the supervisory interaction replays, or is parallel with, the counseling interaction. (Sumerel, Marie B., 1994, Parallel Process in Supervision. ERIC Digest ED372347)
I also wanted Daniel to get a sense of who I was, as we would be spending one hour a week for the next nine months together, unless something drastic happened. Whenever I consider this, my thoughts go to the other nine months in our lives, the time in the uterus. My job was perhaps like that of the mother, to create the 'free and protected place' as Dora Kalff used to say, for a therapist to develop.

My first supervisor was brutal; supervision with him was the opposite of the 'free and protected' place. When I reported to him after my first session as an intern, he told me that it was the "worst session he had ever supervised." It didn't help that all my friends had raved about him as a professor, although, years later, I realized that none had had him as a supervisor. Teaching, doing therapy and supervision are quite different at times! The person who creates the unconditional safe space of therapy may in fact be a lousy supervisor, unwilling to confront the supervisee. By the same token, the professor with many publications, who is his or her own harshest critic, may also be a poor supervisor. Such was the case with Dr. M and me. His blunt style and high expectations were a poor match for a feeling type, brand new baby therapist. I never wanted to do that to anyone I supervised.

Years later I realized that those who have been initiated cruelly will tend to be cruel in their initiation of others. It is the 'wounded who wound', unless they find within themselves the archetype of the wounded healer. Having been hurt by my first supervisor, I knew to be careful, to not repeat history. In fact, I tell my students and interns "It is a 'practice' that we do, not a perfect!"


The Journal continues in the course...

 

Take the test online! Print out your own certificate! This course counts as a 'regular' (not self-study) course by the CA BBS!


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