Compliance with Clinical Supervision Guidelines and its Relations with Confidence of the Supervisees / Cumplimiento de las pautas de supervisión clínica y su relación con la confianza de los supervisados

Background: Clinical supervision is a procedure for the training of health psychologists based on the guidance of more expert professionals, who provide guidelines for action. Using observational methodology, the aim of this paper is to study compliance with the guidelines and probably related variables, such as the confidence of the therapists with supervision and its methods. Method: Six novice therapists, seven supervisors, and 31 users participated in the study; all of them belonged to the university clinic of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CPA-UAM). Confidence was assessed using a self-report questionnaire and compliance with the guidelines using an observational rating-scale. Results: The most common method of supervision was discussion; confidence with supervision and its methods were associated with greater compliance with the guidelines. Conclusions: The results of this study open the door to the development of a guide for action for supervisors, helping them in their task. (AU)

Antecedentes: La supervisión clínica es un procedimiento para la formación de psicólogos clínicos y de la salud basado en la guía de profesionales más experimentados, quienes proporcionan pautas de acción. El objetivo de este artículo es estudiar, utilizando metodología observacional, el cumplimiento de las pautas y variables probablemente relacionadas, como la confianza de los terapeutas en la supervisión y sus métodos. Método: Participaron seis terapeutas noveles, siete supervisores y 31 usuarios, todos ellos de la clínica de psicología de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CPA-UAM). La confianza se evaluó mediante un cuestionario de autoinforme y el cumplimiento de las pautas mediante una escala de calificación observacional. Resultados: El método más común de supervisión fue la discusión de casos; la confianza en la supervisión y sus métodos se asoció con un mayor cumplimiento de las pautas. Conclusiones: Los resultados de este estudio abren la puerta al desarrollo de una guía de acción para los supervisores, ayudándolos en su tarea. (AU)

What works in the Socratic debate? An analysis of verbal behaviour interaction during cognitive restructuring.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive restructuring is one of the most complex application procedures in psychotherapy. It is widely used by psychologists from different orientations. However, the guidelines on how to apply it do not usually have empirical evidence and there is a lack of knowledge about the mechanisms of change that explain it. AIMS: The analysis of verbalizations that therapists emit during the Socratic method could help to better understand the functioning and strategies of effective debates. METHOD: In this study, specific verbal interaction sequences were analysed using observational methodology. The sample consisted of 113 Socratic questioning fragments belonging to 18 clinical cases, treated by behavioural therapists. RESULTS: Among other findings, it was found that using questioning together with certain previous verbalizations directed the client's response more effectively and those successful debates were characterized by using the aversive component in a frequent and contingent way. CONCLUSION: This study shows the most effective way to establish such an interaction in the Socratic method (following a style closer to Ellis's argumentative debate), which entails relevant practical applications in therapy.