Skills Class 5 - May the Force Be with You!: Key Supervisory Principles and Practices for Launching Trainees' Better Practice

When discussing training surgeons, Dr. Sanjay Gupta wrote that no one emerges from the womb a polished surgeon. Similarly, there is no gene responsible for becoming a skilled practitioner in CBT with youth. Competence is multidetermined by the intersection of personal characteristics, critical reasoning, acquisition of foundational theoretical and empirical knowledge, development of procedural/technical proficiency through experiential learning opportunities, nurturing proper attitudes, and cultivating clinical wisdom. Each of these factors require watchful eyes of judicious supervisors. Indeed, supervision accounts for considerable variance in treatment outcome and ignites adoption of evidence-based practices. However, delivering effective clinical supervision is often challenging. Accordingly, this skills-based presentation offers supervisors several practical guidelines and recommendations to build and/or refresh their training portfolios. The workshop begins with a brief overview of supervision basics targeting didactic, procedural, and self-reflective learning. Conventional ways to train supervisees in case conceptualization, collaborative empiricism, guided discovery, technical proficiency, and measurement-based care with youth are delineated. Additionally, two new scales for rating competence and adherence when delivering CBT to pediatric patients are explained and demonstrated. Common dilemmas and challenges associated with training staff in CBT with youth are presented and recommendations for resolving these challenges are offered. Finally, innovative supervision methods such as virtual reality, improvisational theater exercises and the use of fictional characters are demonstrated.