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A qualitative analysis of eight interviews was conducted to answer the following questions: ‘How do trainees experience a clinical impasse?’ and ‘How does the experience of group supervision help or hinder the resolution of these impasses?’ MA students in a counselling psychology program at a Canadian university were interviewed at two points in time: after experiencing a clinical impasse and after receiving group supervision for the impasse. Data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research methodology (CQR; Hill, Thompson & Nutt‐Williams, 1997) to identify themes relative to our two questions. Results indicated that when trainees experienced an impasse they reacted with negative emotions because they did not know what to do in session with the client at that point in time, and they experienced the impasse as a failure. Trainees reported seeking supervision to obtain validation/support, and found that supervision provided them with this. As well, a new perspective on the impasse event and increase in self‐awareness was reported. An unexpected finding included dissatisfaction with the dynamics of the supervision group. These findings have implications for trainers: for understanding the supervisory needs of trainees, for appreciating the impact of supervision on counsellor development, and for generating alternate practices of supervision.

The purpose of this study was to elaborate how clients understand the development of the alliance and to highlight aspects of the process particular to depressed clients working with experienced therapists. Fifteen participants described critical incidents in early therapy that influenced how they understood their working relationships with therapists. All incidents involved clients appraising what their therapists were doing. Through interviewer probing, participants were able to identify the importance of their own activity (disclosing and working with therapist input) as their collaboration in the incidents. Positive emotional responses were woven through the descriptions of the incidents. The research underscores how client understanding of collaboration might be accessed by researchers or clinicians and the potential importance of the interaction of client active exploration with positive emotions in understanding alliance development.

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Hope is a foundational facet of psychotherapy and of common factors theories of psychotherapy. Major hope measures developed in psychology are not designed to measure hope as it relates specifically to psychotherapy. There is growing evidence that both content and processes related to hope in this complex domain have unique features. The Multidimensional Hope in Counseling and Psychotherapy Scale (MHCPS) was developed through a multiphase process, including comprehensive literature review, surveys employing overlapping panels of experts, and scale validation with 211 clients in therapy at 7 Canadian locations. The MHCPS includes 34 items across 6 subscales: Future Orientation, Spirituality, Cognitive, Therapeutic Relationship, Other Relationships, and Emotional. The 6 subscales and the full scale possessed high reliabilities and good convergent and divergent validity. Unique aspects of this scale are the inclusion of a spirituality dimension as well as 2 relational dimensions, recognizing that the therapeutic relationship is a common, though not the sole, relational experience of hope for clients in therapy. The MHCPS offers a nuanced and well-validated option for psychotherapeutic research on hope. Among the many assets of the MHCPS is its ability to provide refined information about the complex interrelationship between client hope and client relationships (therapeutic and other). When employed in clinical settings, the MHCPS can be used to identify and open a range of clinical conversations about where and how hope is currently experienced by clients.