Clinical supervisor training: a ten-year scoping review across counseling, psychology, and social work

ABSTRACT

Clinical supervision is widely recognized as a professional specialty requiring specialized training. As the signature pedagogy of the mental health professions, such training needs to emphasize the instructional vs. clinical nature of the supervision enterprise. However, a comprehensive description of supervisor training programs in mental health professions, including pedagogical approaches taught and employed during training, is lacking. We conducted a scoping review of supervisor training programs in English-language, refereed journal articles during 2012–2021 to identify the location, training parameters, delivery formats, topics, teaching methods, pedagogies, and professional guidelines underpinning delivery of the program, and evaluations of their effectiveness. We located 34 training programs offered within counseling, psychology, and social work. We highlight similarities and differences across professions as well as emerging trends and gaps requiring further research.

KEYWORDS:

• Supervisor training
• clinical supervision
• signature pedagogy
• active learning strategies
• supervision of supervision

Acknowledgments

The authors express their appreciation to Amy Harris Houk for her assistance with the data search process.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07325223.2023.2188624

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

L. DiAnne Borders

L. DiAnne Borders (she/her/hers), PhD, LCMHC, NCC, ACS, is an Excellence Professor in the counseling program at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she teaches clinical supervision and supervises doctoral supervisors. She has published widely on supervisor training topics, including doctoral students’ experiences giving corrective feedback, with a current focus on emotion regulation and trauma-informed supervision. She co-founded the Clinical Supervision Research Collaborative.

J. Angel Dianna

J. Angel Dianna (she/her/hers), LCMHC-A, LCAS-A, NCC, is a second-year doctoral student at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a mental health and addictions counselor in Winston-Salem, NC. She is dedicated to creating supports for counselors and counseling students in research, education, and supervision. She creates and facilitates empathetic, multiculturally competent environments in research, classroom, and therapeutic spaces.

W. Bradley McKibben

W. Bradley McKibben (he/him/his), PhD, NCC, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Jacksonville University. His research interests in clinical supervision include the supervisory relationship, influences of attachment strategies, counselor development, and multicultural considerations.