Supervision can be described to be a social influence procedure which is conducted over a period, in which a supervisor ensures quality assistance to the subjects. Supervisors also act as mentors, observers or coaches who inspire and build an atmosphere which encourages and supports self-motivation and professional development (Dougherty, 2013). These can be achieved through resolving conflicts, team building, creating cohesion along with addressing diversity and ethical issues in all aspects depending on a client’s difficulties. Supervision also ensures successful implementation of consensus together with the quality improvement of evidence-centered practices. Similarly, monitoring can also be considered to be an intervention provided by a professional or a senior member to an individual undergoing personal life crisis. The process of control encompasses contemporary influences vocational functioning or monitoring quality professional services offered to the client (Falender, Shafranske " Ofek, 2014). Therefore, this paper aims to review supervisory problems along with competence, the effectiveness of supervision and the theories related to it and in the end, make ethical and socio-cultural recommendations.
Supervision theory
The supervision model is directly associated with the purpose and oversight of the entire process. There are four supervisory orientations relevant to the subject of this paper. The competency-based approach also referred to as the discrimination model, task-oriented model; emphasizes on learning needs and skills of supervisees as well as the establishment of SMART goals (Bradley " Ladany, 2001). SMART goals are objectives which are specific, are measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. Under this philosophy, they design and implement strategies which address the needs of a client. The model is based on social principles (for example defining roles, duties, and practices), application of different supervisory functions (for example, counseling, consulting and teaching) and demonstrations.
Treatment-based supervision tactic follows a particular speculative approach in which counseling is incorporated into the supervision procedures, while at the same time seeks fidelity and adaptation of the hypothetical examples. Cognitive and behavioral treatment, motivational interactions and psychodynamic therapy are examples of the integrated processes. The model also deliberates on counselors strengths in seeking and comprehending the supervisees’ issues and ideologies, and afterward incorporate the appropriate technique to address the problems (Bradley " Ladany, 2001). Most of these models start with the articulation of treatment methods and description of the supervision approach to be used based on the arising concerns.
Developmental models focus on the understanding that counselors undergo different stages of development and in turn distinguish that the progress through the stages is not linear and is influenced by several factors like setting, tasks and the population served (Bradley " Ladany, 2001). Integrated models on the other side consider leadership along with the articulated technique used in treatment. The model also combines descriptive dimensions which address the development and contextual heights into supervision. The style deliberates on both competency, abilities, and skills in addressing the affective issues based on the varying specific needs of the clients.
Supervisory problems
Supervisory problems revolve around the level of agreement, trust between the two parties, supervisor’s competence, and countertransference. Concerning supervisory belief, the degree of dependence, a good supervisor relationship is based on mutual trust, meaning both the parties consider one another to be dependable (Dougherty, 2013). For instance, in our context, the dependence should imply the supervisee is at ease with less watchfulness against his supervisor’s actions regarding exploitation at the expense of the client. As such, a more trusting relationship leads to increased engagement in the process. Trust exists only to some degree; besides, trust is earned from the previous shared interpersonal issues and interactions. Consequently, supervisors should always remain sensitive to disagreements as well as possess problem-solving skills to maintain a healthy and workable relationship (Dougherty, 2013). Agreement between the supervisee and supervisor concerning goals and expectations is also a significant concern affecting supervisory problems. Therefore, it is acknowledged that problem-solving abilities are essential for the supervisor to recognize and resolves any impulsive disagreement.
Supervisee level of development is a factor to consider which significantly influence the effectiveness of supervisory services. Studies have shown that clients differ from one another about their degree of resistance connected with their development stage (Haynes, Corey " Moulton, 2013). For instance, adolescents are about the age when teens begin to assert their independence towards supervisors – implying, the level of development affects the level of resistance and conflict arising between the two parties. Whatever the case, supervisees should comprehend that despite the push to individuate, supervisors’ main objective is to provide a safe harbor. Conversely, parallel processes and countertransference of the supervisee are also a problem impacting the effectiveness of supervisory procedures. For instance, a client might appear to be resisting, but actually, that is an effect of other parallel processes (Dougherty, 2013). A relevant example is where the clients’ failure to execute the agreed-on intercessions stems from some predominantly strong countertransference response from the client. Here, the supervisor intervention intents to assist the supervisee to address or identify the impactful reactions. Similarly, resistance may be brought about by the presentation of parallel procedures – for example, the resistance deeds is an outcome mirroring the client’s behavior and attitude (Dougherty, 2013). The parallel process can be triggered by either party, linked to the level of trust and agreement in the relationship.
Supervisors’ style of supervision also stimulates resistance and the interventions involved from the client's end. For instance, ‘must-intervention’ philosophies denotes that the client is obligated by the supervisor to take some specific actions regarding a particular response, while ‘non-intervention’ strategy offers the client ample avenue to choose the response action which best fits his or her situation. Between the two policies, must-intervention has a high possibility of provoking resistance, moreover, when the supervisor has not fully comprehended or are in disagreement in the form of intervention subjectively. To heighten, in cases where the clients have higher resistance traits, the must-approach will elicit resistance, commonly described as hypersensitivity to the restriction of freedom accompanied with high vigilance on the supervisors’ actions and responses (Dougherty, 2013). Other supervisory techniques employed are similar to that of consultants and are considered to be less threatening to the supervisees’ sense of self-control (Regan, Park " Chorpita, 2016). Consequently, approaches which are entirely consultative are preferred in minimizing resistance.
Supervisor attachment is another fundamental problem facing supervisory processes; the desire to belong is a potent essential and exceptionally ever-present drive (Baumeister " Leary, 1995, p. 497). With regards to the computer equivalence, humans can be described to be hardwired to be interactive even though how people enact their affiliation desires varies. A study on the attachment argument found out attachment to be any behavior resulting in people retaining some distinguished or favorite individuals (Winston, 2016). The attachment philosophy can further be categorized as obsessive self-reliance, anxious or sometimes secure (caregiving) attachment observed differently in different individuals (Winston, 2016). These attachment relations usually are developed from childhood experiences throughout to adulthood; influenced by other individuals’ situations. The supervisory process involves sharing of sensitive information which eventually leads to a slackening of a fondness bond.
Effectiveness and competences of supervision
In all the supervision models it is essential to ascertain the culturally or contextually based representations and approaches; this enables the supervisor to design the model to cope with particular diversity and cultural aspects. To ensure effectiveness, some concerns must be addressed; for instance, the supervisor should explicitly discuss the variety of the client – for example, the clients’ gender, race, age and even sexual orientation (Dougherty, 2013). In the same note, the supervisor should also consider the precise elements which are associated with the type of diversity. Another concern is that the explicit involvement of the supervisees’ problems regarding the aspect earlier identified, those whose attributes vary to those of the supervisor, and addressing them. From the investigating services, the supervisor should address the issues basing his resolutions on effective networking and intercultural communities or relevant institutions. It is essential to identify which model will be applied in the counseling process as well as articulating the workable approaches of the supervision which fits the models and issues concerned (Falender, Shafranske " Ofek, 2014). The supervision philosophies are conceptual frameworks which enable one to make, organize and comprehend the supervision procedures, as well as assisting the supervisor to focus on the salient aspects involved.
Conversely, to ensure competence and effectiveness of the supervision processes, several queries must be considered as they influence the outcome. Therefore, the qualities of a good model are rooted in supervisors’ personality, approach, and styles. The supervisor should employ consistent, specific and clear evidence-based and scientific practices to resolve the engaged issues (Dougherty, 2013). On the far side, an adaptation of outcome-oriented approaches significantly enhances supervisors’ competence, makes work manageable, and creates some sense of growth and mastery; while at the same time addresses the needs of the client. To conclude, it is vital to recognize that, regardless of the model adopted it is critical to root the development and learning needs of the client, their needs, the aims and goals to be attained along with the legal and ethical boundaries involved. These elements distinguish the context of adequate supervision backed with competency.
Consultation and collaboration
Consultation can be described as a voluntary problem-solving procedure which might be initiated or terminated by either the consultee or consultant. The process is purposed to help consultees to cultivate attitudes along with abilities towards a productive working environment with the client. Therefore, consultation is aimed at enhancing services provided to the clients with the aim of improving their skills and ideologies of the arising issues (Dougherty, 2013). Consultation is an egalitarian relationship reinforced with genuineness, empathy, openness and authentic communication. The therapeutic process mainly emphasizes confidentiality in handling the psychological problems along with the abilities to tackle them. Collaboration is an association which is not entirely understood and has little difference from consultation along with their intervention approaches. Alliance involves pooling together collaborators expertise towards problem-solving – in involving voluntary participation in the decision-making process together with shared responsibility for the intervention and responses. In crisis positions, consultants tended to temporarily act in expert mode, identifying and prescribing resolution to the clients’ issues. However, collaborations between the consultee and the consultant are encouraged, backed by guiding principles and responsibilities involved.
Consultation problems
Handling consultee emotions is a problem which significantly influences the outcome of the consultation process. In any situation where a problem is involved, there is a high chance of encountering feelings and emotions experienced by the consultee. Hence, the aspects of whether or not a consultant can directly deal with this personal emotion or perhaps select an appropriate approach to handling the situation (Dougherty, 2013). The emotional needs of the client is a problem linked to the emotional state of the client, demanding extra emphasis. Consequently, the consultee’s personality and the related issues received different considerations which must be assessed before prioritizing. The consultant must be reassuring through suitable professionalism and competence in handling personal problems.
The degree of involvement of the consultant; the level to which a consultant actively participate in the intervention measures on behalf of the client is a circumstance which needs to be addressed concerning the consultation process. For examples, whether or not the counselors acquire information or contact other people on behalf of the consultee, or advocate for their welfares. The concern also spurs some attributed ethical concerns; where the counselor may actively participate in the quick intervention more than the client and ultimately arrive at a solution to the problem (Dougherty, 2013). The client would not have gained either in the enhancement of problem-solving skill and abilities; and in future, the objective of fostering problem-solving capabilities of the client is diminished. Therefore, the clients’ perspective, competence, and preferences should be the focal point in determining the level of consultant involvement and the model used. As evidence, the issue of counselor taking action on behalf of the consultee must be addressed; and be adjusted to focus on clients’ desires, while the consultant only participates in giving directives. This further eliminates the risk of loss of confidence in the process or the counselor in the process.
The argument on manipulation is linked to adverse implications, leading to the overreaction of the clients thus doubting the professionalism of the process. To some individuals, manipulation implies invasion of interpersonal interactions, while to other is depicts an intentional act to influence other persons in a secretive manner. Consultation involves some elements of change which can only be achieved through manipulation (Dougherty, 2013). Therefore, to deal with these concerns, consultants should be proactive in establishing their beliefs and values about how the consultees perceive them. After all, the issue is not about the consultants’ right to change an individual but rather the extent to which the counselor should withhold his abilities in assisting others. Under ethical methodology, the specialist should emphasize on task-oriented incentives, the degree of collaborations, and practical approach to problem-solving and accountability.
Ethical and legal considerations for supervision
The supervisor is the gatekeeper mandated with the responsibility to uphold legal and ethical issues. Furthermore, the supervisors are responsible for maintaining ethical practices while responding to the ethical concerns presented in the supervisory process (Dougherty, 2013). To start with, liability; both vicarious and direct must be distinctively differentiated. Direct responsibility regarding the supervisor might include negligence of the supervisory duties, for instance, not making substantial efforts in the procedures. On the other hand, in vicarious liability, the supervisors tend to be held liable for harms suffered as a result of neglect. An excellent example is a case where the supervisor provided inappropriate advice to a client or fails to comprehend supervisee explanations carefully. Therefore, the ethical and legal concerns here are, whether the supervisors reasonably conducted him/herself for his position or whether or not the effort made substantial regarding supervision.
Relationship and boundary are elements to be considered under the subject; the dual relationship is the relation between the supervisee and the supervisor or the client and the counselor. However, the supervisor is mandated by the responsibility of ensuring the client identifies and manage their boundary issues. The dual relationship is mostly encountered in scenarios where the supervisor has had previous relations with the client professionally. For instance, a case where the supervisor is providing therapy for his former supervisee. Indeed, there is a high chance of potential harm occurring as a result of the dual relationship; encompassing future harmful side effects (Ellis et al., 2014). The most commonly encountered form of boundary abuses is sexual impropriety; as such codes of ethics advises that dual relationships involving clients and counselors should be avoided as much as possible (Carlson " Sperry, 2013). Sexual and intimate dual associations are the most observed concern, which is not in line with both legal and ethical laws should be understood and avoided (Ellis et al., 2014).
Informed consent is fundamental in protecting both the supervisors and counselors from legal violations while administering service. The permission enables the counselors and supervisors to outline the intentions of the intervention response, as well as state the potential risks to be anticipated and the possible approaches to be used (Jacob, Decker " Lugg, 2016). Through the consent, the client can make intelligent and informed decisions regarding the service or intervention measures. The supervisor is mandated to educate the client about the entire process, feedback channels to be used, the assessment criteria and any other anticipated outcome during the supervision process.
Safeguarding clients’ welfare is a code of ethics which is apparent to both parties involved in the consultation process. Since consultants employ a variety of assessment tools in the procedures, scrutiny has focused on the validity, appropriateness, and reliability of the norms surrounding the consultation environment. The assessment tools should be designed by the acting counselor thus eliminating the concern about appropriateness and in turn becomes relevant to the specific consultee’s problems (Jacob, Decker " Lugg, 2016). Additionally, all individuals who have been assessed have the right to full clarification of the purpose and intention of the evaluation and how the retrieved information will be used. It is easy for counselors working in a highly sensitive situation to overstep their limits of competency. As well, the ethical code of conduct states that consultant should avoid illegal deeds and focus on upholding clients’ welfare. As such, in the event the government or institutional regulations are inconsistent with the ethical guidelines, the consultants should adopt the moral principles.
Confidentiality, whether verbal or written contract, there exists an implied agreement and therefore, the supervisor cannot be held liable, under vicarious liability. The consent and confidentiality concerns occur in three phases, clients’ approval to receive treatment, consent to supervision procedures and supervisors permission to be supervised (Winston, 2016). Also, there is an implied commitment to confidentiality which the supervisor assumes via their supervisory duties which comply with ethical and legal strictures of supervision.
About ethical considerations, supervisors and counselors must adhere to ethical standards associated with boundary violations and dual relationships. Monitoring performance is critical in ensuring the provision of quality services to the clients. The first step ought to involve educating the supervisees on the expected outcomes from the supervision process, clearly outlining the duties, responsibilities, and functions of the supervision procedures (Winston, 2016). The monitoring procedures should regularly be conducted with the aim of evaluating the progress of the process in line with the set goals and objectives. Behavioral contraction is another ethical issue influencing supervision and counseling. As such a supervision contract should be established, where the accountability is outlined for both the supervisee and the supervisor or counselor (Dougherty, 2013). The agreement should be in written form and should encompass all the intended purpose and objectives of the entire process. The context under which the services are provided, together with the institutional policies which guide the practices and response measures, the responsibilities and duties of the involved parties and the scope of competency, should also be included in the contract. Also, the length of the supervisory process and any other sanction to be considered must be included in the agreement.
Evaluation of counselors is a concern which significantly influences supervision. Although everybody wants to know their progress, the majority of counselors prefer not to inquire about feedbacks. Moreover, supervisor prefer to be adored and liked by the clients, making it even harder to give accurate, concise and precise evaluations. Formative evaluation is a continuous review emphasizing on skill development and competence, while summative assessment deliberates on the overall performance and ratings. Therefore, it should be known that supervision platform depicts an unequal relationship, positioning the supervisor above the counselor. The ranking is essential in establishing purpose and context of the supervisory procedures. The evaluation should be a flexible, continuous and interactive activity that exposes clients’ defensiveness and anxiety, through their counselor and supervisors.
All professionalism codes of ethics outline the general professional morality and standards which are to be maintained in all circumstances. They also encompass guidelines which regulate the reaction and behavior in the consultation environment. Therefore, counselors are aware of personal needs and even anticipates the potential outcomes which might prejudice their functioning – hence they can restrain their desires at the expense of the client (Regan, Park " Chorpita, 2016). More so, consultants are encouraged to resolve their weaknesses which limit their effectiveness and competency – they are mandated to take full control of the actions to avoid situations where they are vulnerable (Falender, Shafranske " Ofek, 2014).
Recommendations
The supervisory vulnerability is increased in a situation where the counselors have been assigned too many clients, when the supervisors are inexperienced and where there is inadequate competence in handling the assigned task. Therefore, it can be recommended that the in such situations, vicarious liability should be employed to guide and manage the involved processes. Concerning supervisor relationships, it is recommended that the supervisors and counselors weigh the unanticipated and anticipated side-effects of a dual affiliation. As a result, the apparent identification enables the supervisors and counselors to be vigilant when boundaries become blur or when one is approaching to be entangled in a dual relationship or perhaps crossing the line in professional associations. Under confidentiality, it can be recommended that the limits of privacy about the content retrieved from the supervisory sessions should be stated in the contracts. Thes enables the parties to comprehend and understand the institutional policies, ethical codes of conduct as well as clarifications of legal counsels. Concerning counselors’ evaluation, it is recommended that written and verbal evaluations concerning counselor’s competence and skills should be provided to ensure awareness of behavioral areas which require improvement. Also, following agency timelines and procedures, all supervisees should be treated the same, though client reactions should determine the response intervention and actions. Lastly, it is essential to offer services and responses which are in the best interest of the clients along with the counseling and supervisory profession. Note, the first goal and objective of supervision and advice is to safeguard clients welfare while at the same time uphold competence in control.
References
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