Date of Award
Spring 2013
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology
First Advisor
Burkard, Alan
Second Advisor
Edwards, Lisa
Third Advisor
Knox, Sarah
Abstract
Clinical supervision plays an integral role in counselor development, assisting supervisees to transition from educational coursework to clinical practice. Feedback, including that which is corrective, allows supervisors to transmit knowledge to supervisees and communicate evaluations of supervisee performance. Despite the central role of feedback in clinical supervision, surprisingly little empirical attention has focused on supervisee experiences of corrective feedback in clinical supervision. This study sought to provide a deeper understanding of supervisee experiences of corrective feedback in clinical supervision. Twelve participants were interviewed regarding their experience of corrective feedback in clinical supervision during predoctoral psychology internship. Participants expected to receive corrective feedback, and they held largely positive expectations/beliefs about corrective feedback. Despite positive expectations/beliefs about corrective feedback, participants discussed corrective feedback events that went poorly and resulted in negative consequences for themselves, their clinical work, and/or the supervision relationship. Additionally, participants - including those who discussed corrective feedback events that went poorly - made changes to their clinical work, one of the goals of corrective feedback. Limitations and implications for training, practice, and research are addressed.