Intentionality in Academic Telesupervision: A Phenomenological Study of Faculty Telesupervisors’ Experiences

Abstract

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a widespread shift to telehealth, there is an increased need to understand how we can best provide Telesupervision (TS). To help address the limited research on TS in the Marriage and family therapy (MFT) field, the present study seeks to describe the experiences of faculty telesupervisors who have provided TS as part of an online COAMFTE Accredited MFT master’s program since 2012 (telesupervision was provided before accreditation since 2005). Eighteen participants completed individual interviews or focus groups, which were analyzed using descriptive phenomenological procedures. Our results describe the essential structure of faculty supervisors’ experiences providing TS. Core themes include: general experiences with TS as a modality, online university-specific experiences with TS as a modality, a systemic lens is intentionally applied, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are intentionally addressed, and clinical competencies and ethics are intentionally addressed. A discussion of the essential experiences of faculty TS along with implications for clinical training and future research are reviewed.

Online clinical supervision in couple and family therapy: A scoping review

“…After duplicates were removed ( n = 42), screening of the titles and abstracts of 40 papers assessed against the inclusion and exclusion criteria excluded 25 papers. A total of 15 full texts were assessed (Borcsa et al, 2021 ; Eppler, 2021 ; Harrison, 2021 ; Heiden‐Rootes et al, 2021 ; Jordan & Fisher, 2016 ; Luxton et al, 2016 ; Nadan et al, 2020 ; Pennington et al, 2020 ; Perry, 2012 ; Sahebi, 2020 ; Schmittel et al, 2021 ; Sherbersky et al, 2021 ; Springer et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Watters & Northey, 2020 ). The 15 papers identified from the search process were published across a 9‐year period (2012–2021), with a total of 40% ( n = 6) being empirical in nature and the remaining ( n = 9) providing conceptual views of telesupervision in couple and family therapy.…”

“…Supervisors also need to be wary of the de‐skilling effect that the switch to online therapy creates for novice and experienced supervisees alike. According to Schmittel et al ( 2021 ), once supervisors had gained confidence in the use of technology, their engagement in supervision increased. Consequently, supervisors and supervisees were able to establish better connections, have access to more effective tools for interacting, and experience better communication.…”

“…Online supervision may affect the development and continuance of alliance and rapport in the supervisory relationship. By helping their supervisees resolve technology issues or at least empathizing when these occurred, supervisors were able to establish meaningful relationships (Schmittel et al, 2021 ). Conversation in an online, two‐dimensional reality may prove to be far more challenging than in an in‐person supervision.…”

“…Our review clearly demonstrates the very limited conceptual and empirical work available (Martin et al, 2018 ; Phillips et al, 2021 ). With the rapidly growing use of online therapy and telesupervision in couple and family therapy (Machluf et al, 2021 ; Mc Kenny et al, 2021 ; Schmittel et al, 2021 ), there is a pressing need to expand this body of knowledge in general, and in couple and family therapy in particular, and to collect additional evidence that can be translated later into practice. We have presented the fundamental elements of the supervisor's competence in both supervision and technology, as well as their intersection (Pennington et al, 2020 ).…”

Implementing Efficient Systems to Monitor Competency-Based Supervision in Rural Psychology Training Programs

“…Although telesupervision shows promise in increasing access to mental health care via data supporting equivalence between in-person and telehealth modalities (Jordan & Shearer, 2019;Tarlow et al, 2020;Thompson et al, 2023), the majority of literature thus far has primarily focused on trainee perspectives (Bernhard & Camins, 2021;Ferriby Ferber et al, 2021;Inman et al, 2019;Jordan & Shearer, 2019;Soheilian et al, 2023;Stein et al, 2023;Tarlow et al, 2020;Thompson et al, 2023) with few examinations of perspectives of supervisors (Martin et al, 2022) or of training directors (Frye et al, 2021). Also, satisfaction and supervisory alliance have been the primary variables of interest (Bernhard & Camins, 2021;Inman et al, 2019;Jordan & Shearer, 2019;Schmittel et al, 2023;Soheilian et al, 2023;Tarlow et al, 2020;Thompson et al, 2023). The expanded use of telesupervision and emerging literature base highlights the need for the examination of supervision quality as the modalities of supervision are further diversified via technology.…”