Early career psychologists “muddling through the same challenges”: how the experience of structured group supervision can support the transition to work

ABSTRACT

Objective

The transition from postgraduate psychology student to health professional is associated with steep learning and is under-researched. This qualitative study aimed to understand the experience of newly graduated psychologists and evaluate whether participation in a group supervision program offered within an Australian public health service assisted in the transition to work.

Method

All psychology graduates attending the group supervision program were invited to participate in a focus group. All responses were audio-recorded, transcribed and de-identified. Two focus groups were held with psychology graduates (n = 7) and one focus group was held separately with the psychology primary supervisors (n = 4).

Results

Thematic analysis generated five key themes: developing proficiency in core competencies, meeting psychology registrar requirements, meeting professional development needs through supervision, connecting with peers and feeling valued by the organisation.

Conclusions

While the experience of psychology graduates can be stressful and isolating, the group program provided peer connections, normalised transition to work experiences and provided a supportive platform for acquiring new knowledge and skills. The provision of a structured and competency-based group supervision program has benefits of meeting the developmental needs of psychology graduates professionally and helps them feel valued and supported by their workplace.

KEY POINTS

What is already known about this topic:

1. New graduates in psychology are an expanding and important workforce in Australian health services.

2. The transition from postgraduate degree to practicing psychologist is associated with steep learning and can be stressful at times.

3. Group supervision is available in training and workplaces but is often inconsistent and its benefits are under-researched for recent psychology graduates.

What this topic adds:

• (1) The provision of a structured and competency-based group supervision program for early career psychologists has the potential to meet the professional needs of these psychologists and help them feel supported and connected to their peers.

• (2) Structured group supervision programs offered in the workplace help normalise the psychology registrars experience and help them feel valued by their workplace, potentially impacting workforce retention.

• (3) A model is proposed for providing professional development and support in new psychology graduates that may be applied to other health services in Australia.

KEYWORDS:

• Group supervision
• graduates
• psychology
• competency
• education

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Sai-Priya Paladee who conducted the secondary coding of focus group transcripts.

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the senior author (DW; [email protected]) upon reasonable request.