Supervisee Avoidant Attachment and Supervisors’ Use of Relational Behavior: Contributions to the Working Alliance
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Date
2015
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Citation of Original Publication
Shaffer, K. S. (2015). Supervisee Avoidant Attachment and Supervisors' use of Relational Behavior: Contributions to the Working Alliance. Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
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Abstract
Supervision research has demonstrated the importance of a strong supervisory
working alliance in the context of clinical training. However, little is known about what
specifically occurs in clinical supervision that contributes to a strong supervisory working
alliance. The present study of counselor trainees was designed to investigate relations
among their avoidant attachment style, perceptions of relational behaviors used by their
supervisors in the most recent supervision session, and the supervisory working alliance.
Competing hypotheses stated that greater use of relational behavior on the part of
supervisors would either mediate or moderate the inverse relationship between trainees’
avoidant attachment style and their perceptions of the supervisory working alliance.
Master’s and doctoral trainees in the mental health professions were contacted
through listservs, training directors, and social media with a link to the web-based study.
The measures were the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised ( ECR-R;
Fraley, Waller & Brennan, 2000), the Relational Behavior Scale (RBS), which was
developed based on Ladany, Friedlander, and Nelson’s (2005) Critical Events model of
supervision and assesses perceptions of supervisors’ use of 5 specific interpersonal
behaviors in supervision (exploration of feelings, focus on therapeutic process, attend to
parallel process, focus on countertransference, and focus on supervisory alliance), and the
Working Alliance Inventory – Trainee version (WAI-T; Bahrick, 1989).
Based on the present sample (N = 141) and a similar earlier sample (total N =
262), a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on the Relational Behavior
Scale, which confirmed that a 5-item, one factor solution best fit the data and accounted
for 53.38% of the total variance. Results indicated that neither the mediation nor
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moderation hypotheses was supported. Specifically, trainees’ avoidant attachment style
was not significantly related to the supervisory working alliance or to the perceived
relational behavior of supervisors. However, a significant positive association (r = .62, p
= .0001) emerged between scores on the RBS and the WAI-T, providing evidence that
supervisors’ use of specific in-session relational strategies are strongly associated with
trainees’ more favorable perceptions of the working alliance. Continued study of
relational behavior may enhance theories of interpersonal supervision, provide training
guidelines for new supervisors, and suggest strategies for purposeful intervention to build
strong alliances with trainees, who in turn may use these modeled behaviors to build
strong alliances with their clients.