Supervisor responsiveness from the inside out

Despite the recognized importance of close attunement to the shifting needs of supervisees and their clients, empirical study of responsiveness - what-to-do-when - is lacking. To begin filling this gap, we conducted an analogue study of an IPR simulation by asking 12 experienced supervisors to view videoclips of two differentially skilled trainees who responded to the same dissatisfied client and then reflected on this alliance rupture as if speaking directly to a supervisor. In-depth interviews revealed that, despite having different cognitive-emotional reactions to and evaluations of the two therapist/trainees, participants envisioned a similar approach to supervising each of them.