Supervision Case Study – Psychology Paper

Using the discrimination model in Chapter 14, explain how you would apply each of the supervisory roles in your approach with Michael, the supervisee in the case study. 

The Discrimination Model is an approach that encourages supervisors to give special attention to three areas of supervision. Those areas include teaching, where the supervisor informs and instructs the supervisee; counselor, where the supervisor assists the supervisee to identify his/her blind spots; and consultant, where the supervisor offers the supervisee supportive guidance (Bernard & Goodyear, 1992).

Each of these three roles has clear boundaries set around it in order to avoid role obscurity. In line with this, taking any of the approaches when supervising Michael will require different mode of application, different skills, and will have different impact(Bernard & Goodyear, 1992). This paper will discuss how each of the approaches can be used to supervise Michael in the case study given. It will also analyze the set of skills that a supervisor must possess in order to apply each of the skills.

When applying the counselor approach, the supervisor would be required to cloud a therapeutic relationship with Michael. In such a case, the supervisor would help Michael identify and understand unresolved issues (Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, 1990). The supervisor would help Michael understand his apprehensions as well as help him overcome them through counseling. If the supervisor identifies a need for further counseling, he/she would advice Michael to consult his therapist.

As a consultant, the supervisor would incorporate the supervisory role with monitoring Michael’s performance, counseling him regarding his job performance, and evaluating him (Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, 1990). In this role, the supervisor would also provide an oversight of Michael’s work with the aim of achieving mutual goals, as well as recognize and address Michael’s impairment to ensure that he performs his job within the professional boundaries(Bernard & Goodyear, 1992).

In applying teaching as approaches to Michael’s supervision, the supervisor main aim would be to assist him develop counseling skills and the knowledge required to ensure competency (Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, 1990). The supervisor would determine Michael’s strength, help him identify his learning needs, promote his self-awareness, and transfer practical knowledge that will promote Michael’s professional growth.

Explain the supervisors role and skill set as explained in the discrimination model of supervision. Be specific to the case and provide examples.

The Discrimination Model emphasizes on three areas of skill building. Those areas include:

Processing issues. This involves examining how the supervisee handles the therapeutic processes’ technical aspects. For example, the supervisor would be required to assess whether Michael reflects on his client’s emotion correctly, and whether he offers suitable interpretations on timely basis.

The other skill is conceptualization issues. This involves an assessment of how well the supervised conveys cases(Bernard & Goodyear, 1992). The supervisor would have to focus on how well Michael understands the case’s theoretical background and how he intends to proceed on this basis.

The final skill is personalization issues. This area focuses on how the supervisee uses his/her own thoughts, experiences, and positions in in therapy. This skill would help Michael to be non-defensively present during therapy sessions(Bernard & Goodyear, 1992). When Michael is aware of his feelings and the impact they have on his clients, he can use that information to make his sessions more effective.

Supervision is an important part of ensuring that counselors develop knowledge and skills and thus improving their competence and the quality of services they provide. Supervisory models foster a safe supervisory relationship, and ensure that the process runs efficiently and effectively. As with any model, the discrimination model tends to evolve as the supervisor gains more experience and insight.

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