The Relationship of Interpersonal Attraction, Experience, and Supervisor's Level of Functioning in Dyadic Counseling Supervision

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between the facilitative dimensions of empathy, warmth, and genuineness and the variables of interpersonal attraction and experience within the relationship known as counseling supervision. A total of 71 supervisor subjects responded to an authorconstructed analogue of supervision, and their responses were rated utilizing a modified version of the Carkhuff Scales (1969). The results revealed that interpersonal attraction differentially affects the three facilitative dimensions and that experience mediates attraction differentially depending on the type rather than the amount of experience the supervisor has had.While a number of new techniques and experimental procedures have been introduced into counselor education programs, the most popular model for graduate education of counselors continues to be the didacticexperiential approach. This model assumes that the counselor trainee, to perform adequately in his role, needs a fundamental understanding of the counseling process, an acquaintance with counseling theory and technique, and an awareness of his interpersonal impact on clients. These understandings are generally acquired through a combination of classroom presentations of academic subject matter and one or more field experiences under the direct supervision of experienced counselors.Although there is ample information available concerning the academic curricula of various counselor education programs, little empirical data are available regarding the actual process of supervision which accounts, in large measure, for the experiential component of counselor education. A number of recent studies concerned with counselor training

A cost/benefit analysis of the interpersonal process recall technique.

“…Supervisors in the treatment and comparison groups were matched on the variables of sex, experience, and level of empathy, since previous research indicates these variables may differentially affect the counseling relationship (Carkhuff, 1969a;Carkhuff & Berenson, 1967;Fuller, 1964;Sundblad & Feinberg, 1972;Thoresen, Krumboltz, & Varenhorst, 1967). Prior to the study, 10 potential supervisors completed Carkhuff's (1969b) Communication Index to determine empathy level.…”

Closing the Gap: A Study of Four Counselor Education Programs and Efforts to Facilitate Role Implementation and Counselor Effectiveness in the School

“…The goal is specific and stated in behavioral terms; that is, some change or modification of counselor behavior must be identified. The impact of the supervisor upon the counselor trainee was studied by Sundblad and Feinberg (1972) especially the influence of the supervisor's experience on the facilitative dimensions of empathy, warmth, and genuineness. The type of experience of the supervisor rather than the amount seemed to be important.…”