Addressing the Variability in Training Quality and Advancing Psychotherapist Development through Competency-Based Clinical Supervision

Clinical supervision is the cornerstone of professional development in the mental health field. It is "a critical if not the most critical facet of the psychotherapy training endeavor" (p. 9). Supervision ensures the quality of care and the welfare of clients, facilitates the trainee’s emerging clinical competence and professionalism, and safeguards the public and profession by serving as a gatekeeper. The supervisory relationship provides a context for developing clinical competence, enhancing self-awareness, supporting metacompetence, and establishing the supervisee's emerging professional identity. In that regard, supervision has been found to have salutary effects on the supervisee. However, variability exists in the quality of supervision provided. Regretfully, inadequate and harmful supervision occurs, compromising the supervisory relationship and negatively impacting patient care as well as the supervisee's professional development. In this article, we discuss the role of clinical supervision during the initial training phase and throughout the ongoing development of the psychotherapist. We emphasize the benefits of implementing a competency-based approach by highlighting essential principles. Also, we suggest that supervision quality contributes to either the supervisee's experience of clinical work as a healthy involvement or may accentuate personal and professional stress and exacerbate difficulties in psychotherapy practice.