The effects of the structured peer supervision model on overall supervised counseling effectiveness ratings of advanced counselors in training

Although supervision is widely recognized as critical to the professional development of both practicing counselors and counselor trainees, adequate clinical supervision may be more of an ideal than a reality for many counselors due to a lack of supervisors who have the necessary expertise, time, interest, and willingness to provide regular, ongoing supervision. Sharing a peer supervision relationship with a colleague can be a viable alternative or supplement to receiving clinical supervision from an administrator, instructor, or consultant. In addition, peer supervision may offer a variety of benefits not usually provided through traditional supervision. This study investigated the effectiveness of the Structured Peer Supervision Model (SPSM), a seven-session model which provides a structured framework that enables counseling students to augment traditional clinical supervision experiences by using their counseling skills to supervise one another in dyads. The research design was experimental and utilized a pretest-posttest control group design with random assignment to groups. The Counselor Evaluation Rating Scale (CERS) was used as both pre- and posttest to determine the effects of the Structured Peer Supervision Model on an overall supervised counseling effectiveness posttest score. The study was conducted during the spring 1988 semester with advanced master's-level counseling students (N = 85) who were enrolled in practicum, internship, or experiential career counseling courses. Both experimental and control groups participated in traditional supervision experiences. In addition, experimental subjects utilized the Structured Peer Supervision Model, while control subjects completed an alternative academic assignment. This study hypothesized that mean posttest scores of experimental subjects would be significantly higher than for control subjects. In addition, the study hypothesized that more experienced counselors would score significantly higher on the posttest than inexperienced counselors within groups as well as across groups. Results of two-way analyses of variances (ANOVAs) did not support any of the research hypotheses. Research findings are discussed and recommendations made for future research in this area.