Neuropsychology Supervision: Incorporating Reflective Practice

Abstract

Objective

Clinical supervision is fundamental to the training of psychologists. Neuropsychology (NP) is recognised as a distinct discipline of psychology and is an area of endorsement; however, specific training in NP supervision has received limited attention. Reflective practice is a supervisor competency required by the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA) and is one element of NP foundational competencies. Reflective practice can be described as the process of consciously analysing decision‐making, and drawing upon theory and experience, in order to improve clinical practice. This discussion paper aims to improve the supervision of neuropsychologists in Australia by providing an explicit framework to incorporate reflective practice into NP supervision.

Method

As a discussion paper, the first stage is to review the NP supervision literature; and second to provide a practical supervision framework to integrate reflective practice in accordance with current research, NP‐specific requirements, and the PBA.

Results

The extant literature on NP supervision is exceedingly limited. NP supervision training frameworks were based upon developmental and competency‐based models and indicate that reflective practice is a core element. A practical framework for the implementation of reflective practice was effectively developed.

Conclusions

The reflective approach allows supervisees to attain core functional and foundational neuropsychological competencies, and is flexible to allow for different contexts and potentially new supervision training requirements. Importantly, the reflective practice framework supports ongoing professional development and competency throughout the neuropsychologists’ professional career span.

Key words:

• competency
• neuropsychology
• reflective practice
• supervision
• training

Acknowledgements

No financial and material support for this research was received and there are no potential conflicts of interest.