Introduction

The professionalization of counseling in the past two decades in Britain and Europe has seen
increasing attention being devoted to the provision of training and supervision. In North America
this process occurred largely during the 1950s. The requirement of professional accountability,
and the existence and growing influence of professional associations, have forced colleges,
agencies and training institutes to formalize arrangements for training and supervising
counselors. In Britain, for example, the first university-based counselor training courses began
operation only in 1966. In 1986 the British Association for Counseling produced its first criteria
and procedures for approving counseling courses, and in 1992 the British Psychological Society
published similar guidelines for courses in counseling psychology. Despite this growth in
numbers of courses, relatively little research has been carried out that would assist counseling
trainers and tutors in their work. Counselor training remains, curiously, an underdeveloped area
for research and scholarship. Even the knowledge that tutors and trainers have gained through
personal and professional experience is seldom written up for publication.
Supervision
An important element in counselor development, not only during training but also throughout the
working life of the counselor, is the use of effective and appropriate supervision. It is a
requirement of most professional associations that counselors accredited by them should receive
regular supervision from a qualified person. In this context, it is necessary to emphasize that
supervision has a different meaning from that in other work settings. Supervision in counseling is
not primarily a management role in which the supervisee is given directions and allocated tasks,
but is aimed at assisting the counselor to work as effectively as possible with the client (Carroll
1988). The supervision role in counseling is similar to that of the tutor or consultant. Hawkins
and Shohet (1989) have identified three main functions of supervision in counseling. The first is
educational, with the aim of giving the counselor a regular opportunity to receive feedback,
develop new understandings and receive information. The second aspect is the supportive role of
supervision, through which the counselor can share dilemmas, be validated in his or her work
performance and deal with any personal distress or counter-transference evoked by clients.
Finally, there is a management dimension to supervision, in ensuring quality of work and helping
the counselor to plan work and utilize resources. There are a number of different formats for
providing supervision (Hawkins and Shohet 1989). Probably the most common arrangement is to
make a contract for individual sessions over a period of time with the same person. A variant on
this approach is to use separate consultants to explore specific issues: for example, going to an
expert in family work to discuss a client with family problems, and using a mental health
counselor for consultation on a client who is depressed (Kaslow 1986). Another possibility is
group supervision, where a small group of supervisees meet with a supervisor. The case
discussion group is a type of group supervision that gives particular attention to understanding
the personality or family dynamics of the client. Peer supervision groups involve a group of
counselors meeting to engage in supervision of each other, without there being a designated

leader or consultant. Finally, supervision networks (Houston 1990) consist of a set of colleagues
who are available for mutual or peer supervision, on either a one-to-one or a small group basis.
Each of these modes of supervision has its advantages and disadvantages. Regular individual
supervision facilitates the development of a good working relationship between supervisor and
supervised. On the other hand, specific consultants will have a greater depth of experience in
particular areas. Group and peer group supervision enable the counselor to learn from the cases
and issues presented by colleagues. In these supervision settings, however, there may be
problems in maintaining confidentiality and in dealing with the dynamics of the group. The
choice of mode of supervision depends on a wide range of factors, including personal preference,
cost, availability, agency policy and organization, and counseling philosophy. The supervision
process is highly dependent on the quality of information that supervisees bring to the
supervision setting. Most often, the supervisee will report what he or she has been doing with
clients, using notes taken after counseling sessions to augment his or her recollection. Dryden
and Thorne (1991) argue that, if the focus of the supervision is to be on the skills employed by
the counselor, the supervisor needs actual data from sessions. These data can be obtained from
detailed process notes written immediately after a session, and video or audio-tapes of sessions.
In some situations supervisors may even be able to make live observations of the supervisee
working with a client. One of the principal dilemmas in supervision is deciding on what it would
be helpful to discuss. Potentially, the supervisee might need to explore his or her understanding
of the client, the feelings he or she holds in reaction to the client, the appropriateness of different
interventions or techniques and many other topics. Hawkins and Shohet (1989, 2000) have
constructed a model of the supervision process that usefully clarifies some of these issues.
They suggest that at any time in supervision there are six levels operating:
1 Reflection on the content of the counseling session. The focus here is on the client, what is
being said, how different parts of the life of the client fit together and what the client wants from
counseling.
2 Exploration of the techniques and strategies used by the counselor. This level is concerned with
the therapeutic intentions of the counselor, and the approach he or she is taking to helping the
client.
3 Exploration of the therapeutic relationship. The aim at this level is to examine the ways in
which the client and counselor interact, and whether they have established a functioning working
alliance.
4 The feelings of the counselor towards the client. In this area of supervision the intention is to
identify and understand the counter-transference reactions of the counselor, or the personal
issues that have been re-stimulated through contact with the client.
5 What is happening here and now between supervisor and supervisee. The relationship in
the supervision session may exhibit similar features to the relationship between the counselor

and his or her client. Paying attention to this parallel process (McNeill and Worthen 1989) can
give valuable insights.
6 The counter-transference of the supervisor. The feelings of the supervisor in response to the
supervisee may also provide a guide to some of the ways of seeing the cases that are not yet
consciously articulated by supervisor or supervisee, as well as contributing to an understanding
of the quality of the supervisor supervisee relationship. Hawkins and Shohet (1989, 2000) argue
that good supervision will involve movement between all these levels. Supervisors tend to have a
personal style of supervision in which they stick mainly to a particular set of levels, and the
model can be used as a framework for both supervisors and supervisees to reflect on their work
together and if necessary to negotiate change. The Hawkins and Shohet model has been widely
used in training, but has not yet generated research. An approach that can be used to complement
the Hawkins and Shohet framework is the cyclical model developed by Page and Wosket
(2001). The cyclical model pays particular attention to the creation of a reflective space in
which the supervisee can explore dilemmas arising from his or her work, and to the crucial task
of applying supervision insights in practice.
Page and Wosket (2001) suggest that the work of supervision can be divided into five stages:
Stage 1: Establishing a contract. The counselor and supervisor negotiate such matters as
ground rules, boundaries, accountability, mutual expectations and the nature of their relationship.
Stage 2: Agreeing a focus. An issue is identified for exploration, and the counselors objectives
and priorities in relation to the issue are specified.
Stage 3: Making a space. Entering into a process of reflection, exploration, understanding and
insight around the focal issue.
Stage 4: The bridge making the link between supervision and practice. Consolidation, goal
setting and action planning in order to decide how what is to be learned can be taken back into
the counseling arena.
Stage 5: Review and evaluation. Supervisor and counselor assess the usefulness of the work
they have done, and enter a phase of recontracting.
Page and Wosket (2001) emphasize that this series of stages is cyclical, with each completion of
the cycle leading to a strengthening of the counselor supervisor relationship, and concluding
with the negotiation of a new contract. An appreciation of the different levels at which learning
in supervision may occur, as specified by Hawkins and Shohet (1989, 2000), can inform the
awareness of counselor and supervisor at all stages of this cycle. The Hawkins and Shohet (1989,
2000) and Page and Wosket (2001) models primarily focus on what happens within a single
supervision setting. There are also processes in supervision that occur over a much longer timespan, which concern the ways in which the stage of development of the counselor can have an

impact on the counseling process. Counselors of different degrees of experience and maturity
have different supervision needs, and numerous models have been devised to portray this
developmental track (see Hess 1980 or Stoltenberg and Delworth 1987 for a review of these
ideas).
One such model is the six-stage model of development of professional identity constructed by
Friedman and Kaslow (1986). The stages, which may take several years to pass through, are
described as:
1 Excitement and anticipatory anxiety. This phase describes the period before the counselor
has seen his or her first client. The task of the supervisor is to provide security and guidance.
2 Dependency and identification. The second stage commences as soon as the counselor begins
work with clients. The lack of confidence, skill and knowledge in the counselor results in a high
degree of dependency on the supervisor, who is perceived as having all the answers. The trainee
counselor at this stage will use the supervisor as a model. However, anxiety about being seen as
incompetent may lead the supervisee to conceal information from the supervisor. The personality
and dynamics of the client, rather than the therapeutic relationship or counter-transference, is the
most common focus of supervision at this stage, reflecting the lack of confidence and awareness
of the counselor in exploring his or her own contribution to the therapeutic process.
3 Activity and continued dependency. This phase of development is triggered by the
realization of the counselor that he or she is actually making a difference to clients. This
recognition enables the counselor to be more active with clients, and to try out different
strategies and techniques. The counselor is beginning to be more open to his or her own feeling
response to clients, and may discuss counseling issues with colleagues and family members as a
means of spilling affect (Friedman and Kaslow 1986: 38). In this burst of enthusiasm for
therapy, the counselor may experiment by applying therapeutic skills and concepts to friends and
family members. The primary task of the supervisor at this stage is to be able to accept the needs
for dependency as well as active autonomy, and to allow the counselor to explore different
options.
4 Exuberance and taking charge. Friedman and Kaslow (1986: 40) write that the fourth phase
of development is ushered in by the trainees realization that he or she really is a therapist.
Having acquired considerable experience in working with clients, having read widely in the field
and probably having embarked on personal therapy, the counselor is actively making
connections between theory and practice, and beginning to identify with one theoretical
perspective rather than trying out diverse ideas and systems. In supervision, there is a willingness
to explore counter-transference issues and to discuss theoretical models. The counselor no longer
needs as much support and warmth in supervision, and is ready for a higher degree of challenge.
In becoming less dependent on the supervisor, the counselor comes to view the latter more as a
consultant than as a teacher.

5 Identity and independence. This is described as the stage of professional adolescence. In

beginning to envisage life without the protection and guidance of the supervisor, the counselor
becomes more willing and able to express differences of opinion. Counselors at this stage of
development are often attracted to peer supervision with others at a similar stage. The supervisee
has by this time internalized a frame of reference for evaluating client work, and is in a position
to accept or reject the advice or suggestions of the supervisor. The counselor may be aware of
areas in which his or her expertise exceeds that of the supervisor. It is necessary for the
supervisor at this stage to remain available to the counselor, and to accept a lack of control.
6 Calm and collegiality. By this stage the counselor has acquired a firm sense of professional
identity and belief in his or her competence. The counselor is able to take a balanced view of the
strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to therapy, and is able to use peers and
supervisors as consultants, from a spirit of genuine respect among colleagues (Friedman and
Kaslow 1986: 45). At this stage counselors begin to take an interest in taking on the supervisor
role. The process involved in the formation of a professional identity has the consequence that
the focus of supervision can be qualitatively different at succeeding stages. It is helpful for both
supervisors and supervisees to be aware that this kind of developmental sequence can take place,
and to adjust their behaviour and expectations accordingly.
Throughout this account of the supervision process, it can be observed that the quality of the
relationship between supervisor and supervisee is of paramount importance (Shohet and Wilmot
1991). Charny (1986: 20) has written that the greatest possibilities of growth in supervision . . .
[lie] in tapping candidly just what is going on in the heart, mind and body of a therapist in
relation to a given case. He adds that, for him, the most valuable question in supervision is:
what about this case really worries me? To undertake this kind of open exploration of self in
relation to the client requires the same degree of emotional safety and the same core conditions
that are offered to clients. As in counseling, the freedom to choose an appropriate helper is
valuable, as is the freedom to terminate. The sensitivity to relationship issues that is found in
much effective supervision can also lead to the danger of straying over the boundary that
separates supervision from actual therapy. The role of supervision in counselor training and
ongoing development is, therefore, closely linked to issues of how and when to structure
counselor personal therapy or work on self. There is also an increasing appreciation that,
although counseling supervision consists primarily of a secure, confidential relationship between
a supervisor and an individual counselor (or group of counselors), the organizational context
within which supervision takes place can have a profound influence on the quality and nature of
what takes place. For example, a supervisor may have responsibility to report to the counseling
agency management on the competence or effectiveness of the counselor, or to ensure that the
counselor complies with agency regulations around risk assessment or the number of counseling
sessions that can be offered. Further discussion of the issues associated with the interplay
between supervisor, counselor and the organization which employs (and manages) them both can
be found in Hawkins and Shohet (2000) and Copeland (2000). The requirement to engage in

regular supervision has become one of the cornerstones of the commitment to the provision of
quality therapy services in Britain. In other countries, supervision may be mandatory during
training, with regular consultation required following completion of training. Although the
precise regulatory arrangements may differ in countries and within different professional groups,
there can be no denying the immense commitment of time and energy that is currently devoted to
supervision within the therapy professions. Recently, however, an increasing number of
questions have been asked about the value of mandatory supervision. Critics have argued that
supervision has the potential to be counterproductive in some circumstances (see Box 20.1).
Training and supervision in counseling: some conclusions
The development of theory and research into the practice of counseling and psychotherapy has
not been matched by equivalent critical attention to the problems of training and supervision.
Few studies have been carried out on the evaluation of the effects of training programmes. Major
questions remain unanswered concerning methods of addressing ethical and multicultural
perspectives in training. The implications for training of the movement towards integrationist
and eclectic approaches are only beginning to be addressed. The relevance for counseling
practice of research training or the adoption of a scientist practitioner model has not been fully
investigated. There are few courses for training trainers and supervisors. The specific training
and supervision needs of non-professional or volunteer counselors have not been assessed. There
is, therefore, room for a great deal of additional theory and research in this area. On the other
hand, it is possible to assert with some confidence that the core elements of counselor training
and education are known, or are believed to be known. Competent counselors are able to make
use of accurate self-awareness, knowledge of theoretical models and a range of counseling skills.