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Few studies have examined the practice wisdom of expert supervisors. This study addresses this gap by exploring how experienced supervisors manage difficulties in supervision in the context of the supervisory relationship. The supervisors were a purposive sample of 16 senior members of the profession with considerable expertise in supervision. In-depth interviews were first conducted with the supervisors. An interpersonal process recall method was then used to explore their reflections on one of their DVD-recorded supervision sessions. Analysis of transcripts was completed using a modified consensual qualitative research method. Major difficulties included the broad domains of supervisee competence and ethical behavior, supervisee characteristics, supervisor countertransference, and problems in the supervisory relationship. Supervisors managed these difficulties using 4 key approaches: relational (naming, validating, attuning, supporting, anticipating, exploring parallel process, acknowledging mistakes, and modeling); reflective (facilitating reflectivity, remaining mindful and monitoring, remaining patient and transparent, processing countertransference, seeking supervision, and case conceptualizing); confrontative (confronting tentatively, confronting directly, refusing/terminating supervision, taking formal action, referring to personal therapy, and becoming directive); and avoidant interventions (struggling on, withholding, and withdrawing). Two brief case studies illustrate the process of applying these strategies sequentially in managing difficulties. The study highlights the importance of relational strategies to maintain an effective supervisory alliance, reflective strategies-particularly when difficulties pertain to clinical material and the supervisory relationship-and confrontative strategies with unhelpful supervisee characteristics and behaviors that impede supervision.

Training counselors to work effectively with complex client presentations requires a variety of methods. These methods not only need to be aimed at developing conceptual understanding but also must assist counselors in managing their own emotional reactivity when working with such clients. The author describes the curriculum and experiential training processes of a course in a transtheoretical program, which draws on psychodynamic concepts to help counselor trainees develop competencies with more disturbed clients. These competencies include alliance building and repair, understanding and working with transference and countertransference, and using an understanding of personality structure in case conceptualization.

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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.

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The Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) is a self‐regulating professional peak body, comprising more than 40 professional associations for counselling and psychotherapy in Australia. It represents over 3000 individual practitioners from a range of counselling and psychotherapy backgrounds. This paper describes the decade‐long national consultative processes among practitioners, educators, and professional associations, which has resulted in a unique umbrella structure for member associations. This umbrella structure, the federation, has the potential to embrace and unite the field of psychotherapy and counselling, while maintaining the individual identity and purposes of member associations, in Australia. After describing the development, structures, and goals of PACFA, the paper outlines its major achievements. It then describes an important project on Self‐Regulation in Counselling and Psychotherapy. The objectives of this project are to investigate and further develop an Australian professional self‐regulation model, building on the community consultation processes initiated by PACFA in the mid‐1990s. This paper provides a review of key issues for self‐regulation, explores the options available in the Australian context, the model development to date, and outlines the national consultative processes currently under way to address the challenges facing the profession in Australia. We also discuss the importance of the dialogic and consensual processes adopted by PACFA in establishing a legitimate and credible voice for the profession as a whole in Australia. The paper ends with an overview of some challenges to the future of counselling and psychotherapy in Australia.

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