Effectiveness Of Psychology Supervisor Training Australia

By Kathleen Hill


A clinicians work is to supervise psychologists in training. It may seem like a simple task but this actually is not the case with the supervisors for psychology. The supervision requires a set of special skills in order to be effective. The method also works for interns and trainees as they develop into practitioners. Learning from the psychological supervision method helps in dealing with issues such as difficult feedback. The article elaborates on psychology supervisor training Australia.

The trainees will be nervous enough while reporting. The supervisor should take it upon themselves to make the trainees feel comfortable. They should warm up to the learners and become friendly. This will actually go a long way in making things easier during the training period. If there is always tension between them the relationship is sure not to work.

If not given the required attention, the trainees may actually feel left out and unappreciated. They tend to have the mentality that they are tossed aside because they are not as experienced as the rest of the people. Ensure you avail yourself to the learner always in case they are facing a challenge. They should be comfortable enough to consult with you.

The things you teach in theory should also be applicable in real life. Most trainers tend to refer to all the theoretical aspects of their training. At that, the training should be a two-way street. The supervisor should not be all controlling and continuously feeding information to the trainees. At the end of every session trying to find out how effective you were and how you are progressing.

Another thing that should always be at the back of your mind is that a trainee has three major stages of development. In the first one, they are usually anxious and have not dealt with a client, and they, therefore, require your constant attention. The second one is when they have gained confidence and are able to concentrate on the client. The last stage is where they are empathetic and can help clients find solutions to problems.

After every session or interaction with clients, a supervisor should give feedback to the trainees. The feedback is not always based on how they work and how they relate to other people. Sometimes the feedback is based on professionalism and personality. This may be a bit difficult for the supervisor to deliver delicately depending on their relationship with the trainee.

Seeing as giving feedback is not always easy especially if the feedback is not so positive, a supervisor should come up with a way to be delicate with the results issuing to his/ her trainees. It may be difficult to explain through emails, phone calls, and even text messages. A trainer should consider having audio or video files to help them in pointing out the faults clearly.

No two people have a similar personality. This goes to show that people cannot always agree on everything. This means that no matter the method of communicating between a trainee and a supervisor, there might always be a difference of opinion. Instead of being straight forward and blunt, a supervisor should correct their trainee gently.




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