Skip to main content
Log in

Unsatisfactory Supervisory Experiences Reported by South Korean Supervisors: Types, Responses, and Cultural Context

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Eleven Korean supervisors were interviewed about their unsatisfactory supervisory experiences (USEs) and the interview data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. These results were presented within a broader framework that considered the cultural context in which the supervision was occurring and its effects on relationship dynamics, as well as the supervisory context in which those supervisors were working. Supervisors reported a range of USEs, including supervisee’s failure to learn and supervisees’ negative reactions to the supervisors as well as coping strategies they employed in response (e.g., suppressing negative emotions and continuing supervision). Most USEs were unresolved and the supervisors came to provide rigorous structuring as well as screening potential supervisees who might bring USEs. The results are discussed in the context and current status of clinical supervision in Korea and implications of these findings for supervision, training and research in the world.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • An, H. Y., Goodyear, R. K., Seo, Y. S., Garrison, Y., Baek, K. Y., & Cho, H. J. (2020). Supervisor style as a predictor of counseling supervision relationship quality and supervisee satisfaction: perceptions of US and South Korean supervisees. Asia Pacific Education Review, 21(3), 487–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychological Association, Committee on Accreditation. (1996). Guidelines and principles for accreditation of programs in professional psychology. Washington, DC: Author

  • American Psychological Association. (2014). Guidelines for Clinical Supervision in Health Service Psychology. Washington, DC. http://apa.org/about/policy/guidelines-supervision.pdf.

  • Bang, K., & Goodyear, R. (2014). South Korean supervisees’ expereinces of and responses to negative supervision events. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 27(4), 353–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bang, K., & Park, J. (2009). Korean supervisors’ experiences in clinical supervision. The Counseling Psychologist, 37(8), 1042–1075.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, J. M., & Goodyear, R. K. (2019). Fundamentals of clinical supervision. (6th ed.). New York: Pearson Education Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis. . London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choi, S. C., & Kim, K. (2004). Chemyeon-social face in Korean culture. Korea Journal, 44(2), 30–51.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Constantine, M. G., & Sue, D. W. (2007). Perceptions of racial microaggressions among black supervisees in cross-racial dyads. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(2), 142–153. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.54.2.142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coren, S., & Farber, B. A. (2019). A qualitative investigation of the nature of “informal supervision” among therapists in training. Psychotherapy Research, 29(5), 679–690.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davys, A. (2019). Courageous conversations in supervision. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 31(3), 78–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, M. V. (1991). Critical incidents in clinical supervision and in supervisor supervision: Assessing supervisory issues. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38(3), 342–349. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.38.3.342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, M. V., Berger, L., Hanus, A. E., Ayala, E. E., Swords, B. A., & Siembor, M. (2014). Inadequate and harmful clinical supervision: Testing a revised framework and assessing occurrence. The Counseling Psychologist, 42(4), 434–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falender, C. A., & Shafranske, E. P. (2021). Clinical supervision: A competency-based approach. (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Forshaw, G., Sabin-Farrell, R., & Schröder, T. (2019). Supervisors’ experience of delivering individual clinical supervision to qualified therapists: a meta-ethnographic synthesis. Mental Health Review Journal, 24(1), 51–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, J., Schofield, M. J., & Crawford, S. (2012). Managing difficulties in supervision: Supervisors’ perspectives. Journal of counseling psychology, 59(4), 528–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, B., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Langley, J., & Silva, P. A. (1994). On the" remembrance of things past": A longitudinal evaluation of the retrospective method. Psychological Assessment, 6(2), 92–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holloway, E. L., & Hosford, R. E. (1983). Towards developing a prescriptive technology of counselor supervision. The Counseling Psychologist, 11, 73–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemer, G., & Borders, L. D. (2017). Expert clinical supervisors’ descriptions of easy and challenging supervisees. The Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, 9(1), 3. https://repository.wcsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=jcps.

  • Kim, Y. S. (2002). An encounter between the ethics of the other and Korean Confucianism: A review of Toegye’s theory of cultivation as a principle of accepting the other. Korea Journal, 42(4), 96–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladany, N., Constantine, M. G., Miller, K., Erickson, C. D., & Muse-Burke, J. L. (2000). Supervisor countertransference: A qualitative investigation into its identification and description. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47(1), 102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ladany, N., Lehrman-Waterman, D., Molinaro, M., & Wolgast, B. (1999). Psychotherapy supervisor ethical practices: Adherence to guidelines, the supervisory working alliance, and supervisee satisfaction. The Counseling Psychologist, 27(3), 443–475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, M. L., Barnes, K. L., Evans, A. L., & Triggiano, P. J. (2008). Working with conflict in clinical supervision: Wise supervisors’ perspectives. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 55(2), 172–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pincus, A. L., & Ansell, E. B. (2003). Interpersonal theory of personality. In T. Millon & M. Lerner (Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of psychology: Personality and social psychology. (Vol. 5, pp. 209–229). Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramos-Sánchez, L., Esnil, E., Goodwin, A., Riggs, S., Touster, L. O., Wright, L. K., & Rodolfa, E. (2002). Negative supervisory events: Effects on supervision and supervisory alliance. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 33(2), 197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Safran, J. D., Muran, J. C., Stevens, C., & Rothman, M. (2008). A relational approach to supervision: Addressing ruptures in the alliance. In C. A. Falender & E. P. Shafranske (Eds.), Casebook for clinical supervision: A competency-based approach. (pp. 113–157). American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Son, E., & Ellis, M. V. (2013). A cross-cultural comparison of clinical supervision in South Korea and the United States. Psychotherapy, 50(2), 189–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Son, E., Ellis, M. V., & Yoo, S. K. (2013). Clinical supervision in South Korea and the United States: A comparative descriptive study. The Counseling Psychologist, 41(1), 48–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keeyeon Bang.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bang, K., Goodyear, R.K. Unsatisfactory Supervisory Experiences Reported by South Korean Supervisors: Types, Responses, and Cultural Context. J Contemp Psychother 51, 191–199 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-021-09498-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-021-09498-4

Keywords

Navigation