Supervision: Its Contributions to Treatment Efficacy

The efficacy of supervision in training of psychotherapists is discussed in relation to (a) trainees' attitudes, beliefs, and skills, (b) trainee's performance in the therapist role, (c) interactional process events in supervision and psychotherapy, and, (d) client change. Although investigations to date suggest the potential of supervision for teaching advanced skills of psychotherapy, few studies exist that examine directly the relation of therapist performance and client change to supervision. There are virtually no studies that compare the efficacy of supervision to other training methods. If supervision is to remain an integral part of training, then standardized training manuals, analogous to those in psychotherapy, need to be developed.