Developmental Counseling Supervision: Person-Environment Congruency, Satisfaction, and Learning

A developmental approach to counseling supervision proposes that counseling trainees develop in predictable ways over the course of their training,that supervision environments should change to match trainees' needs, and that a congruent supervision environment will better meet the learning needs of trainees. To explore the developmental approach to counseling supervision, a two-scale instrument representing the counselor complexity model of Cal Stoltenberg was developed representing supervisee characteristics (P-scale) and the supervision environment (E-scale). This Developmental Level Determination Scale was administered to 71 supervisors for 107 supervisees and supervisory environments at 9 university counseling centers. Each supervisor filled out a P-scale and an E-scale for each supervisee at the two-thirds point of the semester. At the end of the semester data on satisfaction and learning were collected from both supervisors and supervisees. Results confirmed the model in which trainees progress in counselor complexity level over the course of training. Results also indicated that, in general, supervisors provided different levels of supervision over the course of training. The congruency hypothesis was not supported, since person-environment mismatch was not related to supervisor or supervisee satisfaction. The findings support the validity of the developmental approach to counselor supervision. (JAC)