TPC-Journal-V4-Issue5

The Professional Counselor \Volume 4, Issue 5 445 population. Despite recommendations that professional counselors obtain supervision throughout their careers, traditional face-to-face supervision meetings are not always feasible and rural counselors may not have direct access to a supervisor, even though they have a desire for one (Luke, Ellis, & Bernard, 2011;Tyson, Pérusse, & Stone, 2008). Although there is a need for trained professional supervisors, supervision in rural areas is difficult to obtain for many counselors because of the distance between professionals, which creates geographic isolation (Wood, Miller, & Hargrove, 2005). There are a number of challenges to receiving quality supervision. Rural school counselors encounter isolation, lack of time and money, a lack of specialists, and decreased personal interaction (McMahon & Simons, 2004). All of these characteristics of working in a rural setting make supervision and consultation, which are essential in the development of a professional identity, difficult to obtain (McMahon & Simons, 2004). Clinical supervision is designed to aid the professional counselor in enhancing professional skill and ethical competency (Bradley & Ladany, 2010). A clinical supervisor in the schools must be a professional who is not only competent in the realm of school counseling functions, but also in supervision practices (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000). The supervision element of school counseling is further complicated as there often is a need for different types of supervision. There is need for both administrative and clinical supervision for practicing school counselors (Bradley & Ladany, 2010), and at times these different types of supervision may conflict with one another. Administrative supervision focuses on policies and procedures governing the school community, and this form of supervision in a school setting is most often performed by a school administrator who may not have a counseling background (Henderson & Gysbers, 1998). In comparison, clinical supervision is an intervention that a senior member of the profession delivers to a junior member in order to enhance professional abilities and monitor the counseling services offered (Bernard & Goodyear, 2009). This reality of school counseling supervision would suggest that those providing clinical supervision need to not only be certified as school counselors in order to qualify as senior members of the profession, but also have supervision training in order to effectively carry out supervision interventions. For school counselors, supervision is a direct venue for providing or receiving support and feedback (Lambie, 2007). Both peer consultation and supervision are related to lower levels of stress in school counselors (Culbreth, Scarborough, Banks-Johnson, & Solomon, 2005). There is evidence that obtaining clinical supervision is indeed beneficial to school counselors, with research pointing to professional and personal gains, including enhanced counseling skills, sense of professionalism, support and job comfort (Agnew, Vaught, Getz, & Fortune, 2000). There also are a number of studies examining the protective utility of clinical supervision regarding school counselor burnout. Prevention of burnout is an important issue for rural school counselors who report feelings of frustration as they struggle to provide as much counseling as possible to their students (Bain et al., 2011). When assessing the effect of clinical supervision on burnout, Feldstein (2000) reported that clinical supervision had a positive effect on reducing levels of emotional exhaustion and burnout in school counselors. In a recent study, Moyer (2011) reported that the amount of clinical supervision received was a significant predictor of overall burnout in school counselors (as well as the dimensions of incompetence, negative work environment and devaluing clients). These findings support the notion that clinical supervision may serve as an important protective factor against burnout for school counselors, and even ameliorate burnout levels once manifested. A similar recommendation was provided by Lambie (2007), who identified clinical supervision as an essential resource that can be utilized to overcome school counselor burnout.