An investigation of the relationship between supervision quality, quantity, and type with client outcomes in therapy

Abstract

Shockingly few studies have investigated the relationship between clinical supervision and client outcomes in therapy. This study attempted to better explain this relationship by tracking the type, amount, and quality of supervision provided and its correlation to client outcomes from a marriage and family therapy clinic. A significant, negative correlation was found between the average quality level of supervision provided on a case, and females’ scores of avoidance in their romantic relationships. However, the quality of supervision was unable to predict unique variance in avoidance scores when therapeutic alliance was included in the regression. This study was distinctive in that it directly investigated the supervision-client outcome link: a longstanding recommendation in psychotherapy literature.