Supervisors' perceptions of trainee resistance

The purpose of this study was to begin research on the phenomenon of resistance during the supervisory process.

The subjects for this research were supervisors who had supervised advanced trainees in the areas of counseling psychology and clinical psychology. Subjects viewed a simulated video tape of a supervision sessions and by means of subjective responses gave information as to what they perceived as resistance on the part of trainee to the supervisory process. This data provided evidence as to what is perceived as resistance by supervisors and how resistance is conceptualized. There was a high amount of agreement that certain incidents are resistance. Subjects also rated the same video tape on three communication dimensions; verbal, paraverbal, and nonverbal.

Results of this study indicate that there is high agreement among supervisors that certain incidents are resistance to supervision. Also, supervisors focus primarily on verbal content when conceptualizing resistance. More importantly this research opens up many areas for future research in the area of resistance. Important questions about the nature of resistance need further study. If indeed, resistance during supervision is a criteria for evaluation of a trainee then research aimed at a better understanding of this process is necessary. Also, the important issue of how much therapy is involved in the supervisory process is directly related to the occurence of resistance. Through more understanding of resistance better training programs can be developed to produce more competent, effective counseling and clinical psychologists.