A contextual behavioral approach to the role of emotion in psychotherapy supervision.

Abstract

As behavior therapy expands to address problems related to private events, appropriate methods of supervision must be developed to train individuals to work with the full range of human experience, using a behavioral model. The authors suggest that therapists' in-session emotions are an important source of information about the impact of clients' behavior on others. Contextual behavior therapists may enhance their effectiveness in meeting clients' needs by attending to the therapist's own emotional responses. This paper provides a contextual behavioral rationale for including a focus on emotion in supervision, with a four-phase model for shaping early trainees' ability to use their emotional reactions to facilitate therapy in a coherent manner.

A Framework to Support Experiential Learning and Psychological Flexibility in Supervision: SHAPE

“…Similarly, for the supervisee, connecting supervision with broader directions may increase willingness and a sense of purpose when having common experiences that arise from scrutiny, such as anxiety and shame (Batten & Santanello, ). Connection with purposes such as being useful to others, being compassionate, approaching work with a sense of curiosity, may be usefully discussed.…”

Attending to Nuanced Emotions: Fostering Supervisees' Emotional Awareness and Complexity

“…Similar to the way that supervisees' levels of emotional awareness may affect their ability to reflect clients' emotions (Batten & Santanello, 2009;Machado et al, 1999;Tsai & Chen, 2007), it could be assumed that supervisors' levels of emotional awareness and complexity may affect their ability to supervise supervisees in these areas. To increase their levels of emotional awareness and complexity, supervisors are encouraged to reflect on their own experiences of emotion, notice emotion in themselves and others, allow themselves to experience a wide range of emotion, tolerate mixed emotions, and identify finer gradients of broader emotions.…”

“…However, some supervisees may never have learned this language; therefore, their emotional awareness and complexity levels may be restricted. Because supervisees' emotional awareness, in particular, has been linked to an increased ability to relate to clients' emotions (Batten & Santanello, 2009;Machado et al, 1999;Tsai & Chen, 2007), it is important that supervisors attend to the development of emotional awareness and complexity.…”

“…Supervisees' emotional awareness is deemed an important aspect of counselor development (Loganbill et al, 1982) and has been linked to an increased ability to work with clients' emotions (Batten & Santanello, 2009;Machado, Beutler, & Greenberg, 1999;Tsai & Chen, 2007). Intuitively, this appears to make sense; as supervisees become more aware of emotions, they may be better able to intervene with clients in more refined, accurate, and effective ways.…”

“…Supervision researchers have explored emotional awareness (see Batten & Santanello, 2009;Loganbill, Hardy, & Delworth, 1982), but they have yet to specifically explore emotional complexity. Supervisees' emotional awareness is deemed an important aspect of counselor development (Loganbill et al, 1982) and has been linked to an increased ability to work with clients' emotions (Batten & Santanello, 2009;Machado, Beutler, & Greenberg, 1999;Tsai & Chen, 2007).…”