Catherine Nye

Using Developmental Processes in Supervision

Abstract Psychodynamic theory describes two processes through which development occurs, maturation and internalization. In maturation, development is understood to occur from an internal, biologically given base. Internalization, in contrast, is a process of taking in from the outside. This paper will explore the relevance of these two processes to teaching and learning in supervision and demonstrate their usefulness for conceptualizing professional development. It will describe both the developmental challenges these processes pose for supervisor and supervisee, and the ways in which supervisors can consciously use processes of maturation and internalization to facilitate the development of supervisees clinical competence.

Narrative interaction and the development of client autonomy in clinical practice

Data from a psychoanalytic case are used to explore the development of client autonomy in clinical treatment. The clients narratives and the talk about them in which narrative meaning is formulated and reformulated are selected as one series of interactions in which the development of client autonomy can be studied. Discourse analysis methods are adapted to document and describe specific shifts in the structure of client narratives and talk about them which reflect the development of client autonomy over the course of treatment. Implications for casework treatment are discussed.

Dependence and Independence in Clinical Supervision

Abstract Dependence and independence can pose important learning issues in clinical supervision. Dependence in supervisees is frequently defined as a problem, while independence is more likely to be valued and supported. The differential valuation of dependence and independence in the supervisory relationship reflects core cultural values which are embodied in traditional psychodynamic developmental theories. This paper explores the challenges to learning posed by supervisee independence, and conceptualizes these challenges using the developmental learning theory of L.S. Vygotsky, a Soviet Psychologist.

Introduction to Theoretical Perspectives

The three articles in this first section share an interest in using theory to conceptualize supervision and clinical practice. In this era of generalized social work education, these articles remind us that theory is a rich resource and an important organizer in supervisory as well as clinical practice. Nye’s article describes a model to help supervisors assess their own capacity for conceptualizing their clinical practice skills and explores ways supervisors and supervisees can be helped to strengthen this important skill set. Her work emerges from experience working with supervisors in the United States and abroad, and it addresses issues of difference—in values and practices—in supervisory training. Schamess’s article compares three relationally based theoretical approaches to the “teach or treat” controversy in supervision and provides an overview of psychoanalytic theory on mutual transformation. He uses two case studies to explore the tensions between these approaches, describes his own experiences of mutual influence in his work as a supervisor, and articulates a fourth approach to this classic dilemma. He hypothesizes that supervisors grow personally as well as professionally from supervision, to the degree they are attuned to the limits of their understanding of treatment theory and practice and the limits of their understanding about their own inner lives and relational templates. Accordingly, he says, supervision is best conceptualized as an interpersonal arena in which learning is reciprocal and change is mutual. Shilkret’s claim that “consultation is not theory neutral” is aptly demonstrated by her fine-grained description of consultative practice guided by control-mastery theory. Her rich examples document the ways in which the assumptions of control-mastery theory guide her understanding of the consultative process as well as her insights into the interactions between

Training Supervisors in Two Cultures: Toward a Model for Codifying Practice Wisdom and Local Knowledge

This article describes parallel learning issues that emerged in supervision training and research at a school for social work in the United States and at a university in Northern Thailand. It presents a conceptual model for understanding and addressing these shared training issues and explores the models cross-cultural relevance and utility.

The delivery of social services in northern Thailand

English This article describes parallel professional secular and traditional religious social service delivery systems in northern Thailand within global trends towards secular provision. It locates these systems in their cultural, historical context and raises questions about the future directions of these parallel service delivery models. French Cet article met en parallèle les systèmes des services sociaux professionnel laïc et religieux traditionnel dans le nord de la Thaïlande dans le cadre des tendances globales de développement des services laïcs. Il situe ces systèmes dans leur contexte culturel et historique et fait émerger des questions sur les orientations futures de ces modèles parallèles de mise à disposition de services. Spanish Este ensayo describe los sistemas paralelos de provisión de servicios sociales en el norte de Tailandia, profesionales seculares por un lado y tradicionales religiosos por el otro, dentro de las tendencias globales hacia la provisión secular. Estos sistemas son ubicados en sus contextos histórico y cultural y promueven preguntas acerca de las direcciones futuras de estos modelos paralelos de provisión de servicios.

Power and Authority in Clinical Practice: A Discourse Analysis Approach to Narrative Process

Issues of power and authority in the treatment relationship are explored using concepts from discourse analysis. Negotiative and heuristic processes of narrative co-construction are described. These concepts, which highlight issues of power and vulnerability in narrative co-construction in ordinary conversation, are then applied to a clinical case. Implications for clinical social work treatment are developed based on an expanded understanding of, and sensitivity to, the sharing of narrative power in the treatment relationship.

Boundary Ambiguity and Borderline Personality Traits: Implications for Treatment for Adolescent Girls in Foster Care

This article explores the relationship between boundary ambiguity and borderline personality traits in adolescent girls in foster care. Boundary ambiguity is a family systems concept: family members are uncertain about who is in or out of the family—in either psychological or physical presence or absence. In foster care, it can be assumed that an adolescent girl has experienced trauma significant enough to be removed from her family. The connection between early childhood trauma and attachment disruption in addition to the connection between insecure/disorganized attachment and borderline personality disorder leads to the conclusion that these same adolescents are at high risk for developing borderline personality traits. The sample consists of 40 caseworkers from New England’s child protection departments and therapists from residential programs working with adolescent girls. They completed the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure for Adolescents to determine the presence of personality disruption as well as a variation of Pauline Boss’s Boundary Ambiguity Scale #1, and demographic questionnaires. The results find a significant correlation between boundary ambiguity and borderline personality traits. These findings provide directions for future research in clinical treatment and child welfare policy making.

Introduction to Relationship Processes in Field Education

This sequence of five articles addresses the important role supervisory and other educational relationships play in field education. Relationship is central to clinical social work practice, as it is to healthy human development. These articles describe relationship processes that can intrude upon and/or facilitate professional development in supervision, field instruction, and/or supervisory training programs. Lindy’s article moves beyond the relationship between intern and supervisor to include the relationship with the faculty field advisor. She identifies potential conscious and unconscious tension that can arise in this important triadic relationship and provides a framework for their identification and resolution. Case examples describing problematic relational dynamics and their management clarify and illuminate her conceptual frame. In their article, Bennett and Deal explore the issues involved in training field instructors to supervise social work students. After presenting a comprehensive overview of the current literature and research on different approaches to supervision training, Bennett and Deal describe the Developmental-Relational Approach to Field Supervision (DRAFS), a training protocol they designed, implemented, and formally evaluated. The DRAFS training model is based on the relationship between attachment styles, affects, the supervisory alliance, and student competencies. It is the “first theoretically based, experimentally designed intervention study to examine attachment in supervision or to look at the association between student competencies and the supervisory relationship” (Bennett & Deal, 2012/this issue, p. 209). Consequently, the model holds great promise for sensitizing field instructors to students’ emotional functioning and for helping field advisors develop more realistic goals for supervisees.