Supervision

Receiving Supervision

Supervision: All interns receive two hours of individual supervision per week. One hour is with the primary supervisor devoted to therapy cases and one hour is with the testing supervisor, devoted to testing cases. The primary supervisor is selected during orientation by the training director based on intern preferences and faculty availability. The testing supervisor is assigned based on which faculty is assigned to supervise on the intern’s assigned testing day each week. Supervision times are scheduled at times that are convenient for the intern and faculty member. Supervisors maintain professional responsibility for the cases being supervised by reviewing and co-signing treatment notes and therapy bills, as well as any other paperwork required for therapy cases (e.g., insurance paperwork, letters, etc.).

Therapy Supervision: Therapy supervision is conducted for at least one hour per week individually with the intern and their primary supervisor. Although supervisory styles may vary, this generally involves a discussion of current therapy cases, as well as issues related to setting training goals and overall professional development. Therapy supervision may also involve live supervision or review of video or audio recordings of therapy sessions at the supervisor’s discretion.

Testing supervision: Testing supervision takes place for at least one hour per week between the intern and their testing supervisor. This supervision includes a review of the testing cases seen by the intern, including case conceptualization, battery selection, review of measures, and report writing. Testing supervision may also involve live supervision or review of video or audio recordings of testing sessions at the supervisor’s discretion.

Group supervision: Group supervision is not required for interns, but it is offered by faculty members several times during the week (times vary each semester). Interns are welcome to attend to discuss cases as needed.

Ad-hoc supervision: There is always a faculty member and licensed psychologist available for supervision as needed, known as the attending psychologist. If a intern needs any immediate supervision, such as to address concerns related to suicide risk assessment or child abuse reporting, the attending psychologist is available for immediate consultation at any time during clinic hours. Most faculty also have an open door policy in that interns are welcome to approach any faculty member with questions or concerns at any time.

Cascading training model (Co-therapy)

We ascribe to the cascading training model in which more experienced clinicians see cases with less experienced clinicians in co-therapy to teach them skills and procedures. Interns are involved in this process at all levels. For those that are new to certain forms of therapy, they may observe therapy with faculty or more-experienced therapists and develop into an active co-therapy role, ultimately taking the lead with other therapists observing or serving as co-therapists. In this way, interns are able to explore new models of therapy, potentially with more challenging cases as can be the case in severe OCD or eating disorders, with high levels of support and supervision. 

Evaluations

Interns are evaluated by faculty supervisors in December and May of each year. Verbal and written feedback is provided by their primary supervisor, compiling data from all supervisor evaluations. The evaluation is drawn from the competency benchmarks in professional psychology “Readiness for Entry to Practice Level Form” designed by the American Psychological Association (APA) to assist programs in measuring students’ progress toward meeting training competencies noted in the core competencies section. In addition, interns are evaluated using the Interpersonal Professional Relationships Rating Form, also developed by APA. For more information on the benchmark evaluation system by APA, please see: https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/benchmarks-evaluation-system.aspx?tab=1  

The interns anonymously evaluate the faculty at the six- and 12-month intervals. Frequent evaluations provide the interns with positive feedback regarding the performance and help the faculty customize their teaching and supervision to the needs of the interns.