Developing Integration Skills: The Role of Clinical Supervision

The present article addresses three areas: learning integration as students, learning integration skills as students and trainees through integrative clinical supervision, and learning to become an integrative clinical supervisor. It focuses on developing integration skills in students and trainees through Christian or integrative clinical supervision in five major aspects or areas of integration: presuppositional, theoretical, intervention, therapeutic relationship, and personal (Gingrich & Worthington, 2007). Three major models of how to effectively conduct Christian clinical supervision are reviewed (Aten, Boyer, & Tucker, 2007; Campbell, 2007; Gingrich & Worthington, 2007). The role of personal mentoring and transformational supervision (Johnson, 2007) is highlighted in the development of integration skills in students, because they learn integration mostly through personal relationships with mentors who model integration for them (Sorensen, Derflinger, Bufford, & McMinn, 2004).