Synthesis Sunday: More of Falender and Shafranske

Here it is, Sunday again. I have tried a different way of "reading" this week - that of skimming rather than reading every word because I get so involved that I cannot read more than about four pages - AND, I am only in the first chapter!! If I only read four pages a week, I will NEVER finish this book!

Page 9 (Yep, that's where I left off last week after what seemed like SO much information gathering) includes the introduction of how different theoretical orientations shape the supervision of interns and students. Pages 10 and 11 speak about developmental approaches stating that "Developmental models of supervision...are metatheoretical...and readily applicable to varying theoretical persuasions" (p.10). I know that my own perspective about intern training follows the ideas of the developmental model more closely than that of the psychotherapy model, but bits and pieces of the psychotherapy approach makes it into the experiences of my interns - how could it not?

Of the models presented in this book, the Integrated Developmental Model (IDM) by Stoltenberg (1981), Stoltenberg and Delworth (1987), and McNeill, Stoltenberg, and Romans (1992) seems to be the closest to what we often use in clinical training. To be honest, I do not think that we have a coherent theoretical perspective for clinical training as a profession. We seem to do what the authors of this book say happened in psychology for many years - just muddling through until we find our ways.

The thing that I like about this description of developmental theoretical orientations is that it includes consideration of the supervisor - I, as an internship director, am constantly developing my own skills.

"Watkins (1993) described the primary issues that supervisors confront across the developmental process: competency-incompentency (the degree to which one feels competent to perform as a supervisor), autonomy-dependency (the degree of independence with which one performs), identity-identity diffusion (the degree of identification versus confusion with one's supervisory role), and self-awareness-unawareness (one's degree of awareness concerning the role and process of supervision)" (p. 11). 

The statement above indicates to me that there is always more to learn and to be aware of during supervision. No supervisor is perfect just like there are no perfect interns out there.

I just found a resource that includes several different scales for students and interns. It is a pdf and available on the web. Click here for the link to Bernard-Goodyear's scales. I may start using these as part of my supervision with interns going forward. Some would be good to use together, others would be good for them to use on their own.

I managed to get through to page 17 this time around - eight whole pages, but most of those pages were tables rather than prose, so it isn't all that impressive. The authors of this book concluded at the end of this section of the chapter that there wasn't much research done on supervisory practices and their impact on client outcome or satisfaction. I hope that is changing in the field of music therapy - I will need to do some more investigation. That's one of the problems with learning - you find that there is always more to investigate. 

As I continue skimming through this text, I am finding lots to think about. I think that music therapy, as a profession, has leaned heavily on the "learn as you go" model of supervision which seems to be identified as "process-based approaches" here. Our AMTA Advanced Competencies indicate the following things as part of supervisor duties to the profession:

B.  Clinical Practice

2.0 Clinical Supervision

2.1 Establish and maintain effective supervisory relationships with supervisees.

2.2 Promote the professional growth, self-awareness, and musical development of the supervisee.

2.3 Apply research findings and theories of supervision to music therapy supervision.

2.4 Design and implement methods of observing and evaluating supervisees that have positive effects on music therapy students and professionals at various levels of advancement and at different stages in the supervisory process.

2.5 Analyze the supervisee’s music therapy sessions in terms of both the effects of musical, verbal, and nonverbal interventions and the musical and interpersonal dynamics and processes of the client(s)-therapist relationship.

2.6 Use music to facilitate the supervisory process.

2.7 Apply knowledge of norms and practices of diverse cultures to the supervisory process as indicated.

2.8 Evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches and techniques of supervision.

2.9 Evaluate the effects of one’s own personality, supervisory style, and limitations on the supervisee and the supervisory process and seek consultation as indicated.

By the way, these are seven years old. I wonder if there are other things that we should be considering these days. I also wonder how we check these things... More to think about and more to explore which leads to more and more reading. Oh dear, This will NEVER end!!

So, how does this change what I do with my interns? On the surface, at this moment, it is not really changing anything except helping me understand a bit about why I do what I do. Some of what I do with interns are because that's what my internship director did with me. Some of what I do with interns comes from experiences with past interns. Some of what I do with interns comes from each of my interns in the moment. I am the sum of all 35 of my interns, my internship supervisors, my practicum supervisors, and my professors, but I am also more than that.

Next week, we get into the reason behind my purchase and reading - competency-based models for clinical supervision. Good news?? We are now on page 20!! Only 15 more pages in this chapter before we get to move into chapter two!!!

 

 

 

American Music Therapy Association. (2015). American Music Therapy Association Advanced Competencies. Retrieved 12/4/2022 from: https://www.musictherapy.org/members/advancedcomp/ 

Falender, C. A., & Shafranske, E. P. (2009). Clinical supervision: A competency-based approach. American Psychological Association: Washington, D.C.