Nondisclosure in psychotherapy group supervision: The supervisee perspective

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate aspects of nondisclosure in a sample of 55 student therapists, working within a group format of supervision. The study constituted one part of a larger study, with the other, parallel part addressing nondisclosure in supervisors. The participants were recruited from seven university-based training clinics in Norway and Denmark. The supervisees answered a questionnaire comprising 11 items about nondisclosure in supervision. The items were answered in a yes/no format, and the respondents were invited to provide examples and justifications for their answers to each item. The examples and justifications provided were analysed in accordance with Hill's guidelines for consensual qualitative research. The study confirmed significant nondisclosure by supervisees in a number of important areas. A high percentage found it difficult to talk about topics related to the supervisory relationship, fearing that they would hurt their supervisor or be met with criticism or interpretation. They were also reluctant to talk to their supervisors about professional matters, particularly related to the perceived incompetence of their supervisors and their expectancy of non-constructive criticism. They felt that their supervisors withheld feedback on their work, as well as advise on what to do, and would like more of this. Several of them thought of the lack of feedback as a conscious strategy helping the students to find out for themselves. A rather striking finding was that a high number of students experienced that the groups became more closed throughout the supervision, and blamed their supervisors for inadequate handling of the group process. This is an issue that needs further exploration.

Building and Sustaining the Supervisory Relationship

“…More recently, Mehr, Ladany, and Caskie (2010) suggest that failure to disclose in supervision may have a direct impact on therapy outcomes including alliance ruptures and premature termination of therapy. However, the content of supervisee nondisclosure is most commonly related to dif ficulties in the SR, such as perceived incompetence of the supervisor (Lemoir, 2013;Reichelt, 2009), unclear expectations, and supervisor unprofessionalism (Inman et al, 2011). Where there are strong SRs, supervisee nondisclosures are more likely to be related to clinical issues, often related to performance anxiety or fear of criticism (Hess, Hess, & Hess, 2008).…”

Supervisee Self‐disclosure: A Clinical Psychology Perspective

“…The existing studies have consistently highlighted supervisees' non-disclosure or partial concealment of potentially salient information (Hess et al, 2008;Ladany, Hill, Corbett, & Nutt, 1996;Mehr, Ladany, & Caskie, 2010;Webb & Wheeler, 1998;Yourman & Farber, 1996). A wide spectrum of the content of non-disclosures has been indicated, which has included clinical mistakes (Mehr et al, 2010;Walsh, Gillespie, Greer, & Eanes, 2002), issues related to the supervisory relationship (Hess et al, 2008;Ladany et al, 1996;Mehr et al, 2010;Reichelt et al, 2009), personal/countertransference reactions to clients (Hess et al, 2008;Mehr et al, 2010) and personal issues (Mehr et al, 2010). Given the significant content of these non-disclosures, this has important implications for supervision being able to effectively fulfil its clinical governance duties.…”

The Supervisory Alliance in Group Supervision

“…The alliance of the supervisor with the other group members becomes a problem in the primary supervisory alliance when the two alliances compete and the presenting supervisee is left in the outgroup. The alliance of the supervisees with each other and the discussion of difficulties concerning the supervisor outside supervision have been demonstrated by earlier research (Reichelt et al ., ). In addition, the present study finds that this can potentially affect the supervisory alliance in a negative way when these outside supervision meetings add to Clara's frustrations concerning supervisory style or sensitize her to them.…”