Group supervision is a distinct supervisor competency: empirical evidence and a brief scale for supervisory practice

Figures & data

Figure 1. Dendrogram representing the hierarchical clustering of items on the Supervisor Evaluation and Supervisory Competence (SE-SC) scale into clusters and super-clusters. B1 to B18 are items from the SE-SC version 2 that represent the six clusters in the original study (Gonsalvez et al., 2017). Items C5, C6, C7, and C8 are new items designed to measure the group supervision competency.

Table 1. Subscale descriptive statistics, internal reliability and mixed ANOVA results.

SE-SC Subscales	Mean (SD)	α	F(1,76)	p	ηp^2	χ^2(6)
Overall Ratings
Overall Satisfaction	6.19 (1.26)	.92
Overall Effectiveness	6.35 (1.22)	.97
Specific Competencies
Openness Caring and Support	6.30 (1.20)**	.95	44.47	.001	.37	11.38
Supervisors Expertise and Knowledge as a Therapist	6.36 (1.17)**	.93	101.47	.001	.57	12.24
Supervision Planning and Management	6.26 (1.16)**	.92	49.62	.001	.57	10.31
Goal-Directed Supervision	5.89 (1.26)*	.90	1.62	.207	.02	6.79
Restorative Competencies	6.10 (1.38)*	.91	2.10	.089	.04	9.89
Insight and Management of Therapist Client Dynamics and Reflective Practitioner Competencies	6.02 (1.13)*	.93	7.43	.008	.09	6.79
Group Supervision	4.94 (0.86)*	.86	88.39	001	.54	11.49

Grand mean = 6.15 (SD = 1.02),*= mean lower than grand mean, **= mean higher than grand mean.

Table

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	N/A
Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neutral	Somewhat agree	Agree	Strongly agree

Table

No.	Overall Items	Subscale Code
A1	Overall, my expectations of supervision were matched or exceeded	Osat
A2	Overall, I would gladly recommend this supervisor to others	Osat
A3	Overall, supervision significantly enhanced my competence as a practitioner and professional	Oeff
A4	Overall, supervision significantly contributed to my achieving better outcomes for my clients.	Oeff

Table

No.	Specific Items	Subscale
B1	In day-to-day dealings, I got along well with the supervisor	OCS
B2	The supervisor came across as a skilled and effective therapist	ExK
B4	Supervision goals focused on important and achievable clinical competencies	SPM
B5	Supervision goals were formulated collaboratively and articulated clearly	GDS
B6	In supervision, I felt comfortable discussing difficulties, dilemmas and aspects that required improvement.	RC
B8	Supervision has enhanced my self-awareness as a person	TCDRP
B9	The supervisor was approachable, caring and supportive	OCS
B11	The supervisor was knowledgeable, explained theoretical concepts and enunciated their practice applications	ExK
B12	Supervision goals and competencies were designed to match my developmental needs	SPM
B13	The supervisor improved my awareness and analyses of how socio cultural values affected the processes and outcomes of my professional work	TCDRP
B14	Supervision sessions were thoughtfully structured and supervision activities were goal driven	GDS
B17	The supervision experience has given me a richer and more accurate appraisal of myself as a therapist and professional	TCDRP
B18	Through supervision I have significantly enhanced my practitioner-client alliance skills	TCDRP
B20	Supervision provided a safe place for emotional ventilation and support	RC
B21	The supervision experience has enhanced my appreciation and respect for my profession and developed my identity as a psychologist	TCDRP
B23	The supervisor helped me understand my patterns of emotional responding (including, when appropriate, transference-type reactions) in client work	TCDRP
C5*	The supervisor facilitated engagement of and enhanced the contributions by all group members	GROUP
C6*	Learning activities within group supervision were planned and coordinated well	GROUP
C7*	The supervisor was insightful in their analyses of client-practitioner and group processes to enhance group supervision outcomes	GROUP
C8*	The supervisor ensured that group supervision was a safe place for appropriate disclosure and professional growth	GROUP

Table

Scoring and Subscale Information
Code	Subscale
Oeff	Overall Effectiveness
Ocom	Overall Satisfaction
OCS	Openness, Caring and Support
ExK	Supervisor’s Expertise and Knowledge as a Therapist
SPM	Supervision Planning & Management
GDS	Goal-Directed Supervision
RC	Restorative Competencies
TCDRP	Insight Into and Management of Therapist-Client Dynamics and Reflective Practitioner Competencies
GROUP	Group Supervision

Gonsalvez, C. J., Hamid, G., Savage, N. M., & Livni, D. (2017). The supervision evaluation and supervisory competence scale: Psychometric validation. Australian Psychologist, 52(2), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12269

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Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, C. Gonsalvez, upon reasonable request.