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Psychotherapy Supervision in the New Millennium: Competency-Based, Evidence-Based, Particularized, and Energized

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Abstract

Psychotherapy supervision has increasingly become or is on the fast track to becoming competency-based, evidence-based, particularized, and accountable. In this paper, I explore how that appears to be so by: (1) briefly considering the concepts of “competencies” and “evidence-based practice” as preeminent guides for psychotherapy supervision practice and training; and (2) briefly reviewing the current status, pressing needs, and future possibilities of psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, humanistic-existential, and integrative psychotherapy supervision. Based on my examination, the following conclusions are proposed: (1) the supervision relationship, individualization, developmental differentiation, and self-reflection (for supervisee and supervisor) appear to be crucial cornerstones for the conceptualization and actuation of supervision process and practice across psychotherapy-based supervision approaches; (2) all indications suggest that three emphases—competency-based supervision, evidence-based practice, and accountability—will continue to substantially influence, affect, and inform psychotherapy supervision practice for its near and distant future; (3) psychotherapy-based supervision approaches will need to be and indeed appear to now be in the process of becoming increasingly particularized in how each of their respective approach-specific competencies are defined and explicated; and (4) psychotherapy supervision has come to be increasingly viewed as an educational process and practice that is best facilitated by: (a) a rich and enriching supervision training environment that vigorously addresses and attempts to meaningfully integrate declarative, procedural, and reflective knowledge bases throughout the supervisory endeavor; and (b) the considered and deliberate utilization of facilitative technology that has the potential to substantially enhance and expand the value of the supervisee’s training/supervision experiences. Some discussion is provided about those four conclusions, and a retrofitted psychotherapy supervision for the new millennium is considered.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle # 311280, Denton, TX, 76203-5017, USA

    C. Edward Watkins Jr.

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Watkins, C.E. Psychotherapy Supervision in the New Millennium: Competency-Based, Evidence-Based, Particularized, and Energized. J Contemp Psychother 42, 193–203 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-011-9202-4

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