Measurement of clinical versus administrative supervision: initial validation with a sample of rehabilitation counselors

ABSTRACT

Counselor supervision in vocational rehabilitation settings includes a diverse range of practices that are commonly differentiated into clinical and administrative roles. Yet currently, there is no comprehensive measure of these dual roles for research or field applications. The current study describes the development and initial validation of an instrument measuring the frequency of clinical versus administrative supervision practices using a sample of practicing rehabilitation counselors (n = 324). The resulting Clinical Versus Administrative Supervision scale (CVAS) shows evidence of differentiation between subscale factors, high reliability, and convergent validity with measures of the supervisory working alliance and satisfaction with supervision.

KEYWORDS:

• Counselor supervision
• clinical supervision
• administrative supervision
• vocational rehabilitation
• psychometric evaluation

Disclosure statement

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

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Scott A. Sabella

Scott A. Sabella, Ph.D, CRC, is an associate professor of Rehabilitation Counseling within the Department of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology at the University at Buffalo. His research and clinical interests include counselor supervision, vocational rehabilitation program management, disability-related community participation disparities, and brain injury rehabilitation.

Trenton J. Landon

Trenton J. Landon, Ph.D., CRC, is an assistant professor in the Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Department at Utah State University. His research interests include the professional development of counselors, clinical supervision, ethics and ethical decision-making, rural rehabilitation, and social inclusion of individuals with disabilities.

Shira R. Pollack

Shira R. Pollack is a graduate student in counseling psychology at the University at Buffalo. Her research and clinical interests include positive psychology interventions, addictive and emotion-driven behaviors, and college student mental health.