Does peer relationship matter? A multilevel investigation of the effects of peer and supervisory relationships on group supervision outcomes.

Abstract

Research in clinical supervision has primarily focused on the contribution of supervisors to training outcome. However, peers may also play a significant role in trainees' development, particularly during group supervision. Fifty-three trainees from 10 supervision groups completed measures of peer relationship, supervisory working alliance (SWA), supervision satisfaction (SAT), and counseling self-efficacy (CSE) at three time points during a 20-week counseling practicum at a department clinic in Hong Kong. Multilevel modeling was conducted to test the hypothesis that both peer relationship and SWA contribute to SAT and CSE. The path model results showed that higher within-and between-trainee SWA was associated with higher SAT, and higher between-trainee SWA was associated with higher CSE. Better within-and between-trainee peer relationship was associated with higher CSE, but not with SAT. Thus, when peer relationship and SWA were entered as predictors into the same analysis and allowed to control for each other's effects, they each have unique contributions to the outcome of group supervision. Implications for training and supervision research are discussed. Public Significance StatementClinical training often takes place in groups. This study provides evidence that supervisors and peers have unique contributions to training outcomes in group supervision. This study lends support to the recommendation that when designing training programs, attention should be paid to the quality of peer relationships in addition to supervisory relationships.

The “roller coaster ride”: A longitudinal investigation of the dynamic relationship between Chinese counseling trainees’ self-efficacy and their clients’ outcome and the mediating effects of working alliance and session evaluation.

“…This being said, it is important to note that the effect sizes for the mutual effects were both small (absolute values around .10). Thus the self-reinforcing force for the dynamic system was not strong (Li & Kivlighan, 2020), and many other factors could come into play to affect therapist self-efficacy (e.g., supervisory relationship, Chui et al, 2021) or client outcome (e.g., therapist helping skills, Li et al, 2018).…”

The Effect of Discrimination Model-based Group Supervision on Counseling Self-Efficacy and Insights of Novice Supervisees

“…Nevertheless, the inclusion of peers in the supervision process supports novice supervisees in normalizing their anxiety and fears and developing their counseling self-efficacy (Atik & Erkan Atik, 2019;Borders & Brown, 2009;Mastoras & Andrews, 2011;Swank & McCarthy, 2015;Ülker Tümlü, 2019). In this sense, conducting supervision in the form of group supervision is very effective in improving the counseling selfefficacy of supervisees (Bakalım et al, 2018;Borders & Brown, 2009;Chui et al, 2021;Ivers et al, 2017;Tan & Chou, 2018). The current study revealed that both the experimental and comparison groups were effective in improving the counseling and meeting management skills of novice supervisors.…”

“…Nevertheless, supervisees feel secure in a supervision process focused on counseling performance skills, cognitive counseling skills, professional behavior, and self-awareness, their anxiety decreases, and their counseling self-efficacy improves (Ülker Tümlü, 2019). Moreover, group supervision can be very effective in improving the counseling self-efficacy of supervisees (Chui et al, 2021;Tan & Chou, 2018). In this process, supervisees' counseling self-efficacy improves through various ways, such as receiving and giving feedback from peers (Swank & McCarthy, 2015), normalizing anxiety (Mastoras & Andrews, 2011), receiving peer support and acquiring multiple perspectives (Atik & Erkan Atik, 2019).…”

“…Furthermore, studies are revealing that the supervision process is effective in reflective processes such as developing supervisees' personal (Aladağ, 2014;Brashear, 2021;Inma et al, 2014) and multicultural awareness (Brejcha, 2021;Bradley et al, 2019;Ivers et al, 2017). Moreover, it is possible to find studies indicating that group supervision, especially peer support, supports supervisees to improve their counseling self-efficacy (Atik & Erkan Atik, 2019;Bakalım et al, 2018;Brashear, 2021;Brejcha, 2021;Chui et al, 2021;Tan & Chou, 2018;Ülker Tümlü, 2019) and acquire insight (De Stefano et al, 2007;Orchowski et al, 2010;Tan, 2019). On the other hand, I can say that the studies focusing on the development of counseling self-efficacy and insight of supervisees in the supervision process are mostly independent studies without following a supervision model (e.g., Atik & Erkan Atik, 2019;Chui et al, 2021;Ivers et al, 2017).…”

“…Moreover, it is possible to find studies indicating that group supervision, especially peer support, supports supervisees to improve their counseling self-efficacy (Atik & Erkan Atik, 2019;Bakalım et al, 2018;Brashear, 2021;Brejcha, 2021;Chui et al, 2021;Tan & Chou, 2018;Ülker Tümlü, 2019) and acquire insight (De Stefano et al, 2007;Orchowski et al, 2010;Tan, 2019). On the other hand, I can say that the studies focusing on the development of counseling self-efficacy and insight of supervisees in the supervision process are mostly independent studies without following a supervision model (e.g., Atik & Erkan Atik, 2019;Chui et al, 2021;Ivers et al, 2017). Furthermore, it is possible to see that some similar studies are limited to qualitative results (e.g., Brejcha, 2021;Calvert et al, 2020;Stinchfield et al, 2019;Tan, 2019;Ülker Tümlü, 2019).…”