The overall purpose of this article is to present a review of the literature that identifies the salient ethical guidelines related to the practice of supervision and to discuss the results of a study that examined supervisor ethical practices. In terms of our investigation, we examined supervisee perceptions of their supervisors’ adherence to ethical guidelines, supervisee reactions to ethical violations, and the relationships among supervisor ethical behaviors, the supervisory working alliance, and supervisee satisfaction. The results indicated that 51% of the 151 beginning to intern-level supervisees sampled reported at least one ethical violation by their supervisors. The most frequently violated guidelines involved adequate performance evaluation, confidentiality issues relevant to supervision, and ability to work with alternative perspectives. Greater nonadherence to ethical guidelines was significantly related to a weaker supervisory alliance and lower supervisee satisfaction. Limitations and implications for psychotherapy supervision theory, research, and practice are addressed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allen, G. J. , Szollos, S. J., & Williams, B. E. (1986). Doctoral students’comparative evaluations of best and worst psychotherapy supervision. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 17, 91-99.
2.
Alpher, V. S. (1991). Interdependence and parallel processes: A case study of structural analysis of social behavior in supervision and short-term dynamic psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, 28, 218-231.
3.
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy . (1991). AAMFT code of ethics. Washington, DC: Author.
4.
American Counseling Association . (1995). Code of ethics and standards of practice. Alexandria, VA: Author.
5.
American Psychiatric Association . (1995). The principles of medical ethics with annotations especially applicable to psychiatry. Washington, DC: Author.
6.
American Psychological Association . (1992). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist, 47, 1597-1611.
7.
American Psychological Association. (1993). Guidelines for providers of psychological services to ethnic, linguistic, and culturally diverse populations. American Psychologist, 48, 45-48.
8.
American School Counselor Association . (1992). Ethical standards for school counselors. ASCA Counselor, 29, 13-16.
9.
Association for Counselor Education and Supervision . (1995). Ethical guidelines for counseling supervisors. Counselor Education and Supervision, 34, 270-276.
10.
Association of State Provincial Psychology Boards . (1991). ASPPB code of conduct. Montgomery, AL: Author.
11.
Bahrick, A. S. (1990). Role induction for counselor trainees: Effects on the supervisory working alliance. Dissertation Abstracts International, 51, 1484B. (University Microfilms No. 90-14, 392)
12.
Bahrick, A. S. , Russell, R. K., & Salmi, S. W. (1991). The effects of role induction on trainees’ perceptions of supervision. Journal of Counseling and Development, 69, 434-438.
13.
Bernard, J. M. (1979). Supervisor training: A discrimination model. Counselor Education and Supervision, 19, 740-748.
14.
Bernard, J. M. (1992). The challenge of psychotherapy-based supervision: Making the pieces fit. Counselor Education and Supervision, 31, 232-237.
15.
Bernard, J. M. , & Goodyear, R. (1992). Fundamentals of clinical supervision. Carmelle, IN: Allyn & Bacon.
16.
Beutler, L. E. , Machado, P. P. P., & Neufeldt, S. A. (1994). Therapist variables. In A. E. Bergin & S. L. Garfield (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (4th ed., pp. 229-269). New York: John Wiley.
17.
Blocher, D. H. (1983). Toward a cognitive developmental approach to counselor supervision. The Counseling Psychologist, 11, 27-34.
18.
Borders, L. D. , & Leddick, G. R. (1988). A nationwide survey of supervision training. Counselor Education and Supervision, 27, 271-283.
19.
Borders, L. D. , & Usher, C. H. (1992). Post-degree supervision: Existing and preferred practices. Journal of Counseling and Development, 70, 594-599.
20.
Bordin, E. S. (1983). A working alliance based model of supervision. The Counseling Psychologist, 11, 35-41.
21.
Boyer, S. P. , & Hoffman, M. A. (1993). Counselor affective reactions to termination: Impact of counselor loss history and perceived client sensitivity to loss. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 40, 271-277.
22.
Buhrke, R. A. , & Douce, L. A. (1991). Training issues for counseling psychologists in working with lesbian women and gay men. The Counseling Psychologist, 19, 216-234.
23.
Claiborn, C. D. , Berberoglu, L. S., Nerison, R. M., & Somberg, S. R. (1994). The client’s perspective: Ethical judgments and perceptions of therapist practices. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 25, 268-274.
24.
Congress, E. P. (1992). Ethical decision making of social work supervisors. The Clinical Supervisor, 10, 157-169.
25.
Constantine, M. G. (1997). Facilitating multicultural competency in counseling supervision: Operationalizing a practical framework. In D. B. Pope-Davis & H. L. K. Coleman (Eds.), Multicultural counseling competencies: Assessment, education and training, and supervision (pp. 310-324). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
26.
Cook, D. A. (1994). Racial identity in supervision. Counselor Education and Supervision, 34, 132-141.
27.
Cook, T. D. , & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
28.
Cormier, L. S. , & Bernard, J. M (1982). Ethical and legal responsibilities of clinical supervisors. The Personnel and Guidance Journal, 11, 486-491.
29.
Cummings, N. A. (1995). Impact of managed care on employment and training: A primer for survival. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 26, 10-15.
30.
Dewald, P. A. (1997). The process of supervision in psychoanalysis. In C. E. Watkins, Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of psychotherapy supervision (pp. 31-43). New York: John Wiley.
31.
Dickey, K. D. , Housley, W. F., & Guest, C. (1993). Ethics in supervision of rehabilitation counselor trainees: A survey. Rehabilitation Education, 7, 195-201.
32.
Diehl, C. (1981). A descriptive study of supervisory behavior over time. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, West Virginia University.
33.
Disney, M. J. , & Stephens, A. M. (1994). Legal issues in clinical supervision. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
34.
Dworkin, G. (1982). Commentary: The “student doctor” and a wary patient. The Hastings Center, 12, 27-28.
35.
Efstation, J. F. , Patton, M. J., & Kardash, C. M. (1990). Measuring the working alliance in counselor supervision. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 37, 322-329.
36.
Ekstein, R. , & Wallerstein, R. S. (1972). The teaching and learning of psychotherapy (2nd ed.). New York: International Universities Press.
37.
Ellis, M. V. , & Ladany, N. (1997). Inferences concerning supervisees and clients in clinical supervision: An integrative review. In C. E. Watkins, Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of psychotherapy supervision (pp. 447-507). New York: John Wiley.
38.
Ellis, M. V. , & Robbins, E. S. (1993). Voices of care and justice in clinical supervision: Issues and interventions. Counselor Education and Supervision, 32, 203-212.
Fassinger, R. E. , (1991). The hidden minority: Issues and challenges in working with lesbian women and gay men. The Counseling Psychologist, 19, 157-176.
41.
Friedlander, M. L. , Siegel, S., & Brenock, K. (1989). Parallel processes in counseling and supervision: A case study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 36, 149-157.
42.
Gandolfo, R. L. , & Brown, R. (1987). Psychology intern ratings of actual and ideal supervision of psychotherapy. Journal of Training and Practice in Professional Psychology, 1(1), 15-28.
43.
Gartrell, N. , Herman, J., Olarte, S., Lacalio, R., & Feldstein, M. (1988). Psychiatric residents’ sexual contact with educators and patients: Results of a national survey. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 690-694.
44.
Glaser, R. D. , & Thorpe, J. S. (1986). Unethical intimacy: A survey of sexual contact and advances between psychology educators and female graduate students. American Psychologist, 41, 43-51.
45.
Haase, R. F. , & Ellis, M. V. (1987). Multivariate analysis of variance. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34, 404-413.
46.
Harrar, W. R. , VandeCreek, L., & Knapp, S. (1990). Ethical and legal aspects of clinical supervision. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 21, 37-41.
47.
Hassenfeld, I. N. (1987). Ethics and the role of the supervisor of psychotherapy. Journal of Psychiatric Education, 11, 73-77.
48.
Helms, J. E. (1995). An update of Helms’s White and People of Color racial identity models. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 181-198). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
49.
Heppner, P. P. , & Handley, P. G. (1981). A study of the interpersonal influence process in supervision. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 437-444.
50.
Heppner, P. P. , Kivlighan, D. M., & Wampold, B. E. (1992). Research design in counseling. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
51.
Hill, C. E. , Thompson, B. J., & Williams, E. N. (1997). Consensual qualitative research. The Counseling Psychologist, 4, 517-572.
52.
Hilton, D. B. , Russell, R. K., & Salmi, S. W. (1995). The effects of supervisor’s race and level of support on perceptions of supervision. Journal of Counseling and Development, 73, 557-563.
53.
Holloway, E. L. (1992). Supervision: A way of teaching and learning. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (pp. 177-214). New York: John Wiley.
54.
Holloway, E. L. (1995). Clinical supervision: A systems approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
55.
Holloway, E. L. , Freund, R. D., Gardner, S. L., Nelson, M. L., & Walker, B. R. (1989). Relation of power and involvement to theoretical orientation in supervision: An analysis of discourse. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 36, 88-102.
56.
Holloway, E. L. , & Neufeldt, S. A. (1995). Supervision: Its contribution to treatment efficacy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 207-213.
57.
Holloway, E. L. , & Wampold, B. E. (1983). Patterns of verbal behavior and judgments of satisfaction in the supervision interview. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 30, 227-234.
58.
Holloway, E. L. , & Wolleat, P. L. (1995). Supervision: The pragmatics of empowerment. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 5, 23-43.
59.
Hosford, R. E. , & Barmann, B. (1983). A social learning approach to counselor supervision. The Counseling Psychologist, 11, 51-58.
60.
Jacobs, C. (1991). Violations of the supervisory relationship: An ethical and educational blind spot. Social Work, 36, 130-135.
61.
Keith-Spiegel, P. , & Koocher, G. P. (1985). Ethics in psychology. New York: Random House.
62.
Kerlinger, F. N. (1986). Foundations of behavioral research (3rd ed.). New York: CBS College.
63.
Kitchener, K. S. (1992). Psychologist as teacher and mentor: Affirming ethical values through-out the curriculum. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 23, 190-195.
64.
Knapp, S. , & VandeCreek, L. (1997). Ethical and legal aspects of clinical supervision. In C. E. Watkins, Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of psychotherapy supervision (pp. 589-599). New York: John Wiley.
65.
Kurpius, D. , Gibson, B., Lewis, J., & Corbet, M. (1991). Ethical issues in supervising counseling practitioners. Counselor Education and Supervision, 31, 48-57.
66.
Ladany, N. (1997, August). A descriptive model of assessing evaluation approaches for psychotherapy trainees. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago.
67.
Ladany, N. , Brittan-Powell, C. S., & Pannu, R. K. (1997). The influence of supervisory racial identity interaction and racial matching on the supervisory working alliance and supervisee multicultural competence. Counselor Education and Supervision, 36, 284-304.
68.
Ladany, N. , Ellis, M. V., & Friedlander, M. L. (in press). The supervisory working alliance, training self-efficacy, satisfaction. Journal of Counseling and Development.
69.
Ladany, N. , & Friedlander, M. L. (1995). The relationship between the supervisory working alliance and supervisee role conflict and role ambiguity. Counselor Education and Supervision, 34, 220-231.
70.
Ladany, N. , Hill, C. E., Corbett, M. M., & Nutt, E. A. (1996). Nature, extent, and importance of what psychotherapy trainees do not disclose to their supervisors. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 10-24.
71.
Lambert, M. J. , & Bergin, A. E. (1994). The effectiveness of psychotherapy. In A. E. Bergin & S. L. Garfield (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change (4th ed., pp. 143-189) New York: John Wiley.
72.
Larrabee, M. J. , & Miller, G. M. (1993). An examination of sexual intimacy in supervision. The Clinical Supervisor, 11, 103-126.
73.
Larsen, D. L. , Attkisson, C. C., Hargreaves, W. A., & Nguyen, T. D. (1979). Assessment of client/patient satisfaction: Development of a general scale. Evaluation and Program Planning, 2, 197-207.
74.
Leong, F. T. , & Wagner, N. S. (1994). Cross-cultural counseling supervision: What do we know? What do we need to know?Counselor Education and Supervision, 34, 117-131.
75.
Lunneborg, C. E. , & Abbott, R. D. (1983). Elementary multivariate analysis for the behavioral sciences. New York: North-Holland.
76.
McBride, M. , & Skau, K. G. (1995). Trust, empowerment, and reflection: Essentials of supervision. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 10, 262-277.
77.
McCarthy, P. , Kulakowski, D., & Kenfield, J. A. (1994). Clinical supervision practices of licensed psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 25, 177-181.
78.
Minnes, P. M. (1987). Ethical issues in supervision. Canadian Psychology, 28, 285-290.
79.
Moskowitz, S. A. , & Rupert, P. A. (1983). Conflict resolution within the supervisory relationship. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 14, 632-641.
80.
National Association of Social Workers . (1994). National Association of Social Workers code of ethics. Washington, DC: Author.
81.
Navin, S. , Beamish, P., & Johanson, G. (1995). Ethical practices of field-based mental health counselor supervisors. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 17, 243-253.
82.
Nelson, M. L. , & Holloway, E. L. (1990). Relation of gender to power and involvement in supervision. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 37, 473-481.
83.
Newman, A. S. (1981). Ethical issues in the supervision of psychotherapy. Professional Psychology, 11, 157-162.
84.
Olk, M. , & Friedlander, M. L. (1992). Trainees’ experience of role conflict and ambiguity in supervisory relationships. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 39, 389-397.
85.
Osborn, C. J. , & Davis, T. E. (1996). The supervision contract: Making it perfectly clear. The Clinical Supervisor, 14, 121-134.
86.
Patrick, K. D. (1989). Unique ethical dilemmas in counselor training. Counselor Education and Supervision, 28, 337-341.
87.
Patterson, C. H. (1997). Client-centered supervision. In C. E. Watkins, Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of psychotherapy supervision (pp. 134-146). New York: John Wiley.
88.
Patton, M. J. , & Kivlighan, D. M., Jr. (1997). Relevance of the supervisory alliance to the counseling alliance and to treatment adherence in counselor training. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 44, 108-115.
89.
Pope, K. S. , Keith-Spiegel, P., & Tabachnick, B. (1986). Sexual attraction to clients: The human therapist and the (sometimes) inhuman training system. American Psychologist, 41, 147-158.
90.
Pope, K. S. , Schover, L. R., & Levenson, H. (1979). Sexual intimacy in psychology training: Results and implications of a national survey. American Psychologist, 34, 682-689.
91.
Pope, K. S. , Tabachnick, B. G., & Keith-Spiegel, P. (1987). Ethics of practice: The beliefs and behaviors of psychologists as therapists. American Psychologist, 42, 993-1006.
92.
Pope, K. S. , & Vasquez, M. J. T. (1991). Ethics in psychotherapy and counseling. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
93.
Roberts, E. B. , & Borders, L. D. (1994). Supervision of school counselors: Administrative, program, and counseling. The School Counselor, 41, 149-157.
94.
Ryder, R. , & Hepworth, J. (1990). AAMFT ethical code: Dual roles. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 16, 127-132.
95.
Sherry, P. (1991). Ethical issues in the conduct of supervision. The Counseling Psychologist, 19, 566-584.
96.
Skovholt, T. M. , & Rønnestad, M. H. (1992). The evolving professional self: Stages and themes in therapist and counselor development. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
97.
Somberg, D. R. , Stone, G. L., & Claiborn, C. D. (1993). Informed consent: Therapists’ beliefs and practices. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24, 153-159.
98.
Stevens, J. (1986). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
99.
Stoltenberg, C. D. , & Delworth, U. (1987). Supervising counselors and therapists: A developmental approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
100.
Stoltenberg, C. D. , & McNeill, B. W. (1997). Clinical supervision from a developmental perspective: Research and practice. In C. E. Watkins (Ed.), Handbook of psychotherapy supervision (pp. 184-202). New York: John Wiley.
101.
Stout, C. E. (1987). The role of ethical standards in the supervision of psychotherapy. The Clinical Supervisor, 5, 89-97.
102.
Tarvydas, V. M. (1995). Ethics and the practice of rehabilitation counselor supervision. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 38, 295-306.
103.
Thoreson, R. W. , Shaughnessy, P., & Frazier, P. A. (1995). Sexual contact during and after professional relationships: Practices and attitudes of female counselors. Journal of Counseling and Development, 74, 84-89.
104.
Tracey, T. J. , & Sherry, P. (1993). Complementary interaction over time in successful and less successful supervision. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24, 304-311.
105.
Twohey, D. , & Volker, J. (1993). Listening for the voices of care and justice in clinical supervision. Counselor Education and Supervision, 32, 189-197.
106.
Vasquez, M. J. (1992). Psychologist as clinical supervisor: Promoting ethical practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 23, 196-202.
107.
Wall, J. C. (1994). Teaching termination to trainees through parallel processes in supervision. The Clinical Supervisor, 12, 27-37.
108.
Watkins, C. E., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). Handbook of psychotherapy supervision. New York: John Wiley.
109.
Welfel, E. R. (1992). Psychologist as ethics educator: Successes, failures, and unanswered questions. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 23, 182-189.
110.
Whiston, S. C. , & Emerson, S. (1989). Ethical implications for supervisors in counseling of trainees. Counselor Education and Supervision, 28, 319-325.
111.
Woods, P. J. , & Ellis, A. (1997). Supervision in rational emotive behavior therapy. In C. E. Watkins, Jr. (Ed.), Handbook of psychotherapy supervision (pp. 101-133). New York: John Wiley.
