| The PCOE Sponsors Field Supervisor Workshop |
| Field supervisors provide a vital educational component to the Counselor Education program at Ohio University’s The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education. Without them, there would be no one to guide each graduate student as they complete their 100-hour practicum and 600-hour internship. |
The Counselor Education program recently showed their gratitude for their supervisor’s work by providing them with a workshop to help them refresh and refine their supervising skills.
“We feel that providing the workshop, at no expense to the supervisors, is an expression of our gratitude for the important contribution they make to our programs,” said Jerry Olsheski, Associate Professor of Counselor Education.
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Jerry Olsheski |
The workshop, “Cultivating Collaborative Conversations and Promoting Ethical Practice in Counselor Education” was held June 19th at the OU Inn, where over 30 field supervisors were provided with six hours of professional development.
This is “a substantial number when you think about the fact that many may actually supervise up to 4-5 of our students at any one time,” said Tom Davis, Professor of Counselor Education.
The workshop was conducted by Dr. Cynthia Osborn, an Associate Professor of Counselor Education at Kent State University, who is also a graduate of Ohio University’s doctoral program in Counselor Education.
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Tom Davis |
Osborn’s focus in the workshop was on the relationship between student and supervisor, emphasizing that counselor supervision creates a learning environment for both the supervisee and supervisor.
"I gained the impression that the supervisors were committed to working collaboratively with their supervisees to provide quality client care,” Osborn said. “Their interest in supervision as team-building and their view of themselves as educators and mentors to a new generation of professional clinical counselors was impressive to me.”
Field supervisors are licensed professional clinical counselors who oversee the clinical counseling activities of PCOE students as they work with actual clients. The supervisors are employed by counseling agencies such as Tri County Mental Health Services, Health Recovery Services and Hudson Counseling and Psychological Services.
“The field supervisors provide a critical service to our counselor education program and this is one reason we like to reciprocate by providing them with a free workshop every year,” said Olsheski.
Davis noted that the program was a “huge success,” adding that the program is necessary for professional counselors, providing them with “the most current and state of the art information and techniques in the field to allow them to be effective with our students.”
Osborn began the workshop by presenting a definition of counselor supervision that “emphasizes not only the assurance of client care, but also a commitment to professional accountability and development.” She went on to discuss specific supervisory methods and strategies that help encourage a student’s commitment to professional enhancement. She outlined how to use tools such as a role induction exercise, the importance of reflective posture and the use of a written supervision contract.
The theme of ethics was not forgotten, and throughout the workshop it was reinforced through references to ethical principles, research findings, and the professional code of ethics.
“Counselors learn how to interact with their clients by how their supervisors interact with them, and this represents a rich experiential learning environment,” Osborn said “The attentiveness and engagement of the counseling supervisors who attended the workshop reinforced for me the quality education their supervisees are likely receiving, and the quality services their respective clients are receiving.”
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