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Abstract
The counselling/psychotherapy profession is relatively unique in its tradition of ongoing supervision of practising professionals after training has been completed. However, it is unclear whether most counselling and psychotherapy professionals continue with supervision once they have qualified, and what kinds of factors are associated with this decision. This research describes factors associated with the frequency of ongoing supervision among psychotherapists and counsellors.
The study design used a cross-sectional workforce survey of members of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) member associations, representing around 2,500 members. A total of 316 members participated. Ninety-six per cent of the sample reported receiving ongoing psychotherapy supervision. Twenty percent received supervision weekly and 35% fortnightly. Most received individual supervision, with 8% receiving only group supervision and 9% only peer supervision. A multivariate logistic regression analysis identified several factors related to receiving a higher level of supervision per month: therapists who had higher client contact hours, who had higher rates of personal therapy, an undergraduate degree compared with pre-tertiary training, and female therapists compared with males. The paper discusses these findings in the context of understanding the development of the counselling/psychotherapy profession, models of counsellor training, and implications for practice and supervision.
This project was funded under a Victorian Department of Human Services project awarded to PACFA to examine workforce issues and develop a self-regulatory model for the counselling profession. Grateful acknowledgement is made of the support provided by PACFA. The project was also made possible by the contributions of Leah Collins in the design and data collection phase, and Jon Kettle for statistical analysis.