2010

Based on several years of field-based and university-based clinical supervision, we have analyzed our work and the work of our supervisees. Our analysis has prompted several observations about our work and their work and some challenges that arise from these observations. The agencies through which we have delivered clinical supervision have included the following: a crisis intervention center, a mental health center, a large private practice, a church, an adolescent sex offender treatment program, a university counseling center, a broad-based family/youth intervention program, a hospice, and others. Also, both of us have delivered clinical supervision in counselor education programs, including both CACREP and non-CACREP university programs.

From this history of clinical supervision, our belief is that a large source of failure in clinical supervision stems from the lack of clarity about the supervisor's philosophy of clinical supervision. From this observation, we have sought to define the necessary components of a philosophy of clinical supervision, along with a rationale for developing a philosophy of clinical supervision, regardless of the setting in which supervision is delivered.