Korean Supervisors’ Experiences in Clinical Supervision

Abstract

The demand for mental health services in Korea is increasing, and a corresponding rise in the number of trainees in counseling psychology results in a need for effective supervision. Using a grounded theory approach, this study explored Korean supervisors' experiences in supervision to better understand the current status of supervision practice in Korea. a model emerging from the data suggests that Korean clinical supervisors in mental health view teaching and explorations of supervisees' personal issues as the main activities of supervision. Both the method of supervision and the structure of supervision affected the way that supervisors' theoretical orientations and supervisees' developmental levels influenced the focus of supervisors' teaching and explorations of supervisees' personal issues. To compensate for lack of formal training in supervision, participants in this study engaged in selfdevelopment activities. The results of this study are discussed in the context of Korean cultural characteristics and the current status of counseling psychology in Korea. Implications for future supervision training in Korea and in the United States are discussed.

South Korean supervisees’ experience of and response to negative supervision events

“…Some graduate programs incorporate practicum and internship opportunities for counseling psychology graduate students, but others do not. Moreover, there is no specialty accreditation system to monitor the type and quality of clinical training provided by graduate programs (Bang & Park, 2009). Whereas the certificate requirements include supervision experiences, some graduate programs do not provide a sufficient amount of supervision hours for supervisees to meet certificate requirements.…”

“…Because relationship behavior is culturally influenced, it should not come as a surprise that culture would affect supervisor-supervisee relationships as well (Bang & Park, 2009;Son, Ellis, & Yoo, 2013). Given the influence of culture and its potential importance to developing a more complete understanding of supervision processes, this study examined South Korean supervisees' perceptions of negative supervision events (NSE), how they responded to them, and their effects on supervisees and their clients.…”

Novice Counselors’ Conceptualizations and Experiences of Therapeutic Relationships

“…The experiences of novice counselors are likely to vary across country, culture, and training site. For instance, Bang and Park (2009) observed that because of a strong cultural emphasis on saving face in Korea, counseling supervisees in Korea might be preoccupied with being perfect and avoid asking for help from their supervisors for fear of appearing incompetent. Additionally, the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship might vary across culture.…”

“…Evidence suggests that supervisors operating within a variety of multicultural frameworks tend to focus on these "micro-skills" with novice trainees (Bang & Park, 2009;Gazzola & Theriault, 2007). In Hill's 3-stage model of helping, the emphasis for training is on the first stage, exploration, which focuses on establishing rapport with clients.…”

The competent psychoanalytic supervisor: Some thoughts about supervision competences for accountable practice and training

“…That focus: (1) appears to have been largely guided by efforts to make training and practice more accountable; and (2) has led to increasing attempts to set in place systems of competency definition and assessment for educational guidance and utilization. This push for competency definition and assessment has been evident across such disciplines as medicine, psychiatry, psychology, and social work, and has been international in its reach (Bang & Park, 2009;Epstein & Hundert, 2002;Falender & Shafranske, 2012;Frank, Snell, ten Cate, Holmboe, Carraccio, & Swing, 2010;Miller, Scully, & Winstead, 2003;Psychology Board of Australia, 2011;Roe, 2002;Swick, Hall, & Beresin, 2006;Tebes, Matlin, Migdole, Farkas, Money, & Shulman, 2011). …”