Supervising School Counseling Students

Catherine Tucker, PhD, LMHC

Indiana State University

March 15, 2011

Goals of supervision

• Promoting supervisee growth and development.

• Protecting the welfare of clients/students.

• Monitoring supervisee performance and gate-keeping for the profession.

• Empowering the supervisee to self-supervise and carry out goals.

Types of supervision

• Administrative– Signing documents– Assigning tasks– Scheduling

• Clinical/counseling– Discussing students– Helping counseling student make decisions, contact parents, etc.

Roles of the supervisor

• Teacher- you make the choice to instruct the student about how to do a task, correct an error, give information.

• Counselor- you make a connection between a student’s personal worldview/issues and how he/she is functioning at the site.

• Consultant- you give the student options for handling issues that arise, avoiding telling them how to do something.

• Evaluator- you provide honest feedback, even when it’s hard to do. (Bernard & Goodyear, 2004).

Counselor Development Model

• Developmental model (Stoltenberg, McNeil & Delworth, 1998).

Stage 1: Dependency stage- Anxious, insecure about role and ability to fulfill it (‘survival’), self-focussed, lacking insight but highly motivated.Supervisor needs to provide a clearly structured and containing environment including positive feedback and encouragement.

Developmental model

Stage 2 : Dependency-Autonomy Conflict

– Fluctuation between dependence & autonomy; over-confident vs. overwhelmed; client-focused but less aware of countertransference; may feel angry towards supervisor as they encounter complexity/loss of early confidence.

– Supervisor needs to be less structured, allowing counseling student to learn from mistakes. Needs help to contain ambivalent emotions.

Developmental model

Stage 3: Conditional Dependency– Increased professional self-confidence.

Able to see client/students in a wider context and reflect on client’s problems and the interaction during the session.

–Supervisor can adopt more enquiring framework that is process-centered and reflective.

Developmental model

Stage 4: Master Professional/Integrated–Personal autonomy, insightful awareness,

able to confront personal & professional issues.

–More likely to be ‘collegial’ or to utilize a peer supervision context.

ISU Fieldwork Progression

• 4 semesters, fall/spring, fall/spring• Fall 1- fieldwork- 3 levels, 60 hours total

– Focus is on observation and classroom guidance– Students complete a needs assessment at one school, use as a

basis for designing lessons.

Spring 1- Practicum- 3 levels, 100 hours total• Focus is on individual counseling• Students see 2 children at each level (k-2, 2-5, 6-8, 9-12)• Create comprehensive case study

• Year two- Internship- 2 levels, 540 hours– Students function as “junior counselors”– Do classroom guidance, small group, individual

counseling, attend meetings, etc.

Developmental tasks during progression:

• Fieldwork: Stage 1- deal with anxiety, give small tasks to build confidence, needs a lot of structure and direction. Concrete ideas are needed and welcomed.

• Practicum: Stage 1 into 2- typically still anxious, want to please, “save the world”. Students need structure balanced with freedom to try their own ideas. Students may have displaced anger toward supervisors at this stage when they get frustrated with their lack of skill or confidence. They often need help moving through frustration and confusion.

• Internship: Moving from Stage 2 to 3: need somewhat less structure and assurance. Students here typically balance between feeling like a “real counselor” and being terrified of that role. Need less concrete and directive feedback, more reflection and examination of ideas.

References

• Bernard, J., Goodyear, R. (2004). Fundamentals of clinical supervision. Boston: Pearson.

• Stoltenberg, C.D., McNeill, B., & Delworth, U. (1998). IDM supervision: An integrated developmental model for supervising counselors and therapists. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

• Studer, J. (2006). Supervising the school counseling trainee: Guidelines for practice. Alexandria, VA: ACA.