Relational humility and clinical supervision: on hypotheses, method, and measurement

ABSTRACT

Humility has been increasingly recognized and elaborated upon as a critical variable for effective supervision practice. Just as humility is considered to be a foundational life virtue, it may be a foundational supervision virtue as well. But we lack for any justifying support base of humility/supervision research to affirm that being so. Might there be some way to change that reality and potentially jump start the study of humility in supervision? That question is taken up subsequently. In striving for answer, I have specifically drawn upon a proposed set of relational humility hypotheses, method of humility measurement, and method-consistent humility measures for inspiration. Those hypotheses and measures, designed to stimulate and advance the study of humility, have proven quite robust and highly heuristic over this past decade. Following, I (a) apply those hypotheses, method of measurement, and method consistent measures to the supervision situation and (b) propose ways by which humility/supervision research might accordingly be advanced.

KEYWORDS:

• Humility
• supervision
• relational
• realistic accuracy model
• personality judgment

Additional information

Notes on contributors

C. Edward Watkins

C. Edward Watkins, Jr., Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at the University of North Texas. He is editor of the Handbook of Psychotherapy Supervision (1997) and co-editor (with Derek Milne) of the Wiley International Handbook of Clinical Supervision (2014). He currently serves as Associate Editor of the International Journal of Supervision in Psychotherapy (the Editor being Loredana-Ileana Vîșcu) and is a Fellow of Divisions 29 (Psychotherapy) and 17 (Counseling Psychology) of the American Psychological Association.