Mary Lee Nelson

Counselor training level and the formation of the psychotherapeutic working alliance.

To investigate the relation of training level to working alliance, 50 counselor-client dyads from three counseling agencies were surveyed. Counselors were grouped into three training levels: (a) novices, in their first practicum; (b) advanced trainees, in their second practicum through predoctoral internship; and (c) experienced counselors, postdoctoral staff at the agencies. After the third session, counselors and clients completed the Working Alliance Inventory to provide ratings of the bond, task, and goal dimensions of their alliances

Class Jumping into Academia: Multiple Identities for Counseling Academics.

Eleven counseling psychology and counselor education academics were interviewed regarding their experiences of progressing from lower- or lower-middle-class backgrounds to college and, further, to academic positions. Grounded theory method was used for data analysis, and consensual qualitative research methods were used for triangulation and data presentation. Participants described experiences of hardship as children, obstacles to advancement, resources that enabled academic pursuits, and thwarted belonging needs in academic environments and original referent group settings. Bicultural and tricultural identity development were identified as central phenomena for participants. Implications regarding social class as an important aspect of multiculturalism are discussed.

Working with Conflict in Clinical Supervision: Wise Supervisors' Perspectives.

Eight female and 4 male supervisors identified by professional peers as highly competent were interviewed about experiences of conflict in supervision and their dependable strategies for managing it. Highly competent supervisors were open to conflict and interpersonal processing, willing to acknowledge shortcomings, developmentally oriented, and willing to leam from mistakes. They believed in creating strong supervisory alliances, discussing evaluation early on, modeling openness to conflict, and providing timely feedback. Dependable strategies included contextualizing conflicts in light of developmental and environmental factors, seeking consultation with colleagues, self-coaching, processing conflicts, accentuating supervisee strengths, interpreting parallel processes, and withdrawing from supervisee dynamics.

Qualitative Clinical Research With Children and Adolescents

This article provides an overview of how qualitative research methods (QRMs) can augment the literature in child and adolescent clinical psychology by contributing to theory and hypothesis building. We discuss the utility of qualitative methods in examining the nature of clinical processes and obtaining deeper understandings about quantitative findings. We also present strategies for designing and conducting qualitative investigations, address ethical issues involved in conducting qualitative research with minors, and discuss limitations on inferences that can be made from qualitative findings.

Research in training clinics : A bridge between science and practice

Clinics associated with psychology training programs have potential to generate important research data. The expectation that research be experimental in nature has limited the pursuit of research in training clinics. This type of efficacy study is not feasible in most clinics, where too much variation occurs as a result of training and administrative demands. Numerous process-outcome studies have been effectively conducted in training clinics. This article reviews some of these studies, identifies problems related to research in training clinics, and makes recommendations for the development of an enhanced research agenda for training clinics.

Psychotherapy Supervision: Another Specialty?

Nicholas Ladany, Myrna Friedlander, and Mary Lee Nelson have taken on an ambitious and challenging project in writing Critical Events in Psychotherapy Supervision: An Interpersonal Approach. They have produced a thorough and wellconceptualized volume that offers a very practical model of supervision and provides empirically based information within a framework of interpersonal relatedness. All are experienced supervisors, teachers, and researchers. Ladany is an associate professor and director of training in the doctoral program in counseling psychology at Lehigh University. Friedlander is a professor and director of training in the counseling psychology doctoral program at the University of Albany. Nelson is an associate professor in the counseling psychology program at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.