1. Supervising School Counseling Students
Catherine Tucker, PhD, LMHC
Indiana State University
March 15, 2011

2. 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.

3. Types of supervision Administrative Clinical/counseling
Signing documents
Assigning tasks
Scheduling
Clinical/counseling
Discussing students
Helping counseling student make decisions, contact parents, etc.

4. 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).

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.