Parallel processes in counseling and supervision: A case study.

Were concerned with the reciprocal, interlocking processes of supervision and counseling. To examine the theoretical model of parallel process, we applied social psychological theories of selfpresentation and interpersonal influence in an in-depth case study (1 client, 1 counselor trainee, and 1 supervisor) of the naturally developing therapeutic and supervisory relationships. Multiple indexes of the process and outcome (of both treatments) provided self-reported and verbal communication data. Results point to the similar aspects of the two relationships, the possible indicators of parallel process, and an identification of the behavioral features of the supervisor's style. Conclusions provide guidance for more extensive research along these lines. Understanding the supervisory process and its effects on trainees and their clients has been hampered in three ways. First, most conceptual models of supervision rely on extrapolations from counseling theory. Although the supervisory and counseling processes share some important features—the emphasis on learning, empathy, personal growth, responsibility, and so forth—they differ in major ways that only recently have been acknowledged. Most important, in contrast to counseling, supervisors provide their trainees with an explicit performance evaluation that has considerable real-life consequences (Holloway, 1984). Second, there is little in the literature to suggest how to supervise, probably because little empirical evidence suggests what experienced, effective supervisors actually do. Third, the majority of conceptual models and published studies have failed to consider client factors as sources of variance. Any experienced supervisor is aware that one's work with a trainee can vary greatly depending on the client in question. Also, supervisors' evaluations of their trainees tend to fluctuate when the client improves or deteriorates (Ward, Friedlander, Schoen, & Klein, 1985). In our study we address each of these shortcominp in the literature. Our focus is the reciprocal, interlocking processes of counseling and supervision. Specifically, this case investigation (1 supervisor, 1 counselor trainee, and 1 client) was an attempt to determine the extent to which various relational aspects in counseling and supervision are similar and if interpersonal dynamics in either dyad carry over in a parallel fashion to the other dyad. Some authors (e.g., Doehrman, 1976; Ekstein & Wallerstein, 1972) have described parallel process phenomena, whereby trainees unconsciously present themselves to their This investigation was partially funded by a Faculty Research