Challenges and Solutions in the Delivery of Clinical Cybersupervision

Abstract

Supervision is both a special case of instruction and a critical aspect of professional development. The ongoing development of web-based infrastructures and communication tools provides opportunities for cybersupervision. Advantages of cybersupervision for counselor training include opportunities to provide location independent, “live” supervision of counseling sessions in which: (a) evaluative feedback is communicated in “real time” using text or graphical modalities; (b) audio evaluative feedback is digitally recorded in “real time” for post-session playback; and, (c) weekly, hour-long, supervision sessions are conducted using either synchronous (e.g., multifeatured video conferencing, chat room) or asynchronous (video recording, email) web-based communication tools. Challenges to quality online supervision include communicating critical supervisor characteristics, developing an effective supervisor/supervisee online relationship, insuring requisite personal dispositions and computer skills, implementing a theoretical model of supervision, and resolving legal and ethical problems. Authors examine these advantages, challenges, and solutions in the context of two online supervision/instructional models for training counselors (i.e., professional counselors, psychologists, clinical social workers, and psychiatrists) and discuss generalizability of the cybersupervision model for professional training in a variety of fields that include medicine, law, and education