Training and Supervision in

Counselling

Dr Sonia Khodabakhsh

1
Historical Trends in Counselor Training

• The requirement of professional accountability –

forced colleges, agencies and training institutes
to formalize arrangements for training and
supervising counsellors.
• 1960s and 1970s: Introduction of structured
approaches to skills training.
• Current trend: Focus on the role of supervision
and personal therapy in training programmes.

2
Key Elements in Counsellor Training
Course
1. Developing theoretical understanding.
2. Acquiring counselling skills.
3. Work on self-awareness.
4. Exploration of professional issues.
5. Supervised practice with clients.
6. Research awareness.

3
1- Developing Theoretical Understanding
• To understand the work with clients
• E.g. counselling models, basic psychological
theories, introduction to psychiatric
terminology, sociological aspects
• Counselling courses cover an extensive
theoretical topics, especially it comes to
specializations.

4
1- Developing Theoretical Understanding
• Issues:
• Particular theoretical approach vs.
theoretical integration?
• Independent institutes vs. institutions
of higher education
• Order of making theoretical choices
• Broad  specialized
• Focus on a single core theoretical
model

5
 2- Acquiring Counselling Skills

• Break down the role of counsellor into discrete actions/

behaviours
• Examples:
• Human Resource Development model (Carkhuff, 1969)
• Rogerian “core conditions” + “action” skills
• Micro-counselling/ Micro-skills Training Approach (Ivey &
Galvin, 1984)
• E.g. attending behaviours, client observation skills, etc.
• and other structured approaches.

6
3- Work on Self-Awareness
• The importance of self-awareness & self-
knowledge in counsellors
• Based on different theoretical approaches
• Psychodynamic – differentiate between
counter-transference reactions and
projections of unresolved conflicts
• Person-centered - congruence
• General perspectives
• Survive without burn-out
• Aware of own motivations and pay-offs – to
prevent client exploitation/ abuse

7
4- Exploration of Professional Issues

• Training courses include careful consideration of a

wide range of professional issues.

• Principles of ethical practice – discussion of cases.

• E.g. power and discrimination in counselling; case
management and referral; boundary issues; etc.

8
5- Supervised Practice with Clients
• Students work with real clients – in the form of
supervised practice.
• Then work with course colleagues

• Delivery of supervision:
• Regular one-to-one supervision
• Group supervision
• Case discussion group
• Peer supervision group
• Supervision networks

9
 5- Supervised Practice with Clients
• Issues that may arise:
• Counsellors’ anxiety and dependency
• Supervisor-supervisee relationship
• Selective in the material present in
supervision
• May not disclose information that might
reflect poorly on competence
• Counterproductive – locked into a
supervision relationship

10
6- Research Awareness

• Sessions on research awareness; ability to

read research papers and draw appropriate
conclusions from them; through training in
research methods; design and implementing
a piece of research.

11
 Issues and Dilemmas in Counsellor
Training
• Two most common dilemmas in training:
• Balance – theory vs. experiential work
• Time – process of counsellor development
• Other issues – facing by counselling trainers:
• Selecting trainees
• Assessing competence

12
 Selection of Trainees
• Poor validity of selection interviewing due to:
• Unclear definition of job criteria
• Unstructured interview
• It is better to put candidates through an “assessment
centre” procedure
• More reliable and valid
• Procedures include – interviewed on different topics
by different interviewers, observed in group
discussion & counselling role play situations, required
to complete tests that assess personality, intelligence
& counselling aptitude

13
 Assessment of Counsellor Competence
• Emphasis on the completion of an acceptable training
course.
• Various sources of assessment:
• Information collected from
tutors/trainers/supervisors/external
examiner/consultant/ independent panels of judges
• Audio-tapes/ Video-tapes – case materials
• Peer assessment
• Self-assessment – learning journals/ diaries
• Examinations/ tests
• Questionnaires and rating scales, etc.

14
Training and Supervision in
Counselling
• Supervision:
1. Received from a qualified person (supervisor)
• Management role
• To check on the effectiveness of supervisees
(counsellors) throughout working life
2. For the majority of counsellors, on-going
supervision or regular consultation with
colleagues represents the main form of continuing
education and training.

15
The Nature of Supervision

• 3 main functions (Hawkins & Shohet, 2007):

• Educational
• Supportive role
• Management dimension

16
The Nature of Supervision

• Factors of choosing mode of supervision:

• Personal preference
• Cost
• Availability
• Agency policy and organization
• Counselling philosophy

17
The Nature of Supervision

• Supervision process highly depends on the

quality of information brought by supervisees

• Detailed process notes – written immediately

after a session
• Video-/ audio-tapes of sessions
• Live observations

18
The Nature of Supervision

• 5 cyclical stages (Page & Wosket, 2001); creation of

reflective space.

 Establishing a contract
 Agreeing a focus
 Making a space
 The “bridge” – making the link between supervision and
practice
 Review and evaluation

19
20
6-stage model of development of professional
identity (Friedman & Kaslow, 1986):
• Occur over a much longer time span (may
take several years)

1. Excitement and anticipatory anxiety – before

2. Dependency and identification – during and after
3. Activity and continued dependency – realization 
making a difference
4. Exuberance and taking charge – realization of
“therapist”
5. Identity and independence – “professional
adolescence”
6. Calm and collegiality – take the role of supervisor
21
 Summary of topic
• Counselling training has become more professionalized
and comprehensive.
• Key components of most training programs are:
developing theoretical understanding; acquiring skills,
work on self-awareness, exploration of professional
issues, supervised sessions, research skills, and awareness
of research-informed practice.
• The most difficult issues facing counselling trainers are
selecting trainees and assessing competence.
• There is a lack of consensus on how to define the criteria
of assessing competence.

22