Taught by Thorana S. Nelson, Ph.D. and Dale Blumen, M.S.
Short Description: This course is designed to
fufill the 15-hour didactic portion of the AAMFT Fundamentals of Supervision course requirements toward the
Approved Supervisor Designation. The course is offered in five
modules.
Fees: The cost of the course is $375. Fees
include all five modules, course resources, reading and evaluating the assignments for each module, and
reading and evaluating the Philosophy of Supervision paper. Re-readings of papers that require extensive
evaluation will include an additional $25 fee.
Timeline: Participants will have one year from the date of
registration and payment to complete all requirements for the course including satisfactory evaluations of the
Philsophy of Supervision paper. First drafts of the Philosophy of Supervision paper that are turned in by the
deadline will be read. Remediation drafts must be completed within two weeks of receiving feedback from the
instructors.
Required Readings:
AAMFT. (2000). Readings in family therapy
supervision. Alexandria, VA:
Author.
Lee, R. E., & Everett, C. A. (2004).
The integrative family therapy supervisor. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
Storm, C. L., & Todd, T.
(2003). The reasonably complete systemic supervisor resource
guide. Lincoln, NE:
iUniverse.
Participants must also read
The AAMFT Approved
Supervisor Designation Standards
and Responsibilities Handbook, available in Module I and in the course
reader.
In addition to these books, which can be ordered through the publishers or may be found online at sites such as
www.amazon.com, each module has required readings consisting of book chapters
and/or articles, which are provided.
Long Description: This course is designed to provide information and instruction for
beginning-level supervisors, some of whom are relatively new therapists,
themselves. Participants are expected to make the course fit
their own needs and to retain resources for themselves to use as they need throughout their supervision
careers. Some new supervisors may find the course demanding; some experienced supervisors may find that it
seems like busy work. Regardless, we expect participants to fulfill all requirements and to learn as much
from the course as they desire. Participants who have difficulty with the course should feel free to contact
the instructors for help.
Each module addresses specific areas of supervisory education as they relate
to the AAMFT Approved Supervisor Designation learning objectives and philosophy of supervision paper. Each
module is designed to require 2-4 hours of reading time for the course participant plus time for writing short
assignments and the personal philosophy of supervision paper. The "15 hour" portion of the title could be
considered as "15 hours of class time" (similar to a graduate course), which means that participants may need
more or less time to complete the readings and assignments. Each module includes articles and book chapters to
read and short paper assignments. The course is designed to be taken in sequence, Modules I-V. Module
descriptions can be found by clicking the "Modules" link at the top of this
page.
The course may be taken before or after the AAMFT interactive supervision
track at the annual conference . By the time the a
supervisor candidate has completed all five modules and the interactive supervision track, she or he should be
able to write a satisfactory draft of the philosophy of supervision paper, required to receive the AAMFT
approved supervisor designation. The paper will not be accepted before all modules and the interactive track
have been completed. Candidates will receive feedback about their papers from course instructors and will be
required to receive ratings of at least ‘2’ for each evaluation section of the paper before a certificate of
completion for the course is issued. Candidates’ mentors may require further revisions of the philosophy of
supervision paper. Candidates' mentors are not required to read the papers for this
course.
Candidates must complete either this course and the interactive track at the
AAMFT annual conference or an alternate AAMFT-approved 30-hour fundamentals of supervision course before
receiving the AAMFT approved supervisor designation. The full 30-hour course and interactive track/didactic
course combination may be taken any time during the candidate’s mentoring process. Candidates should check
the laws and rules of their jurisdictions before supervising; some states require that a course be completed in
order for pre-licensed therapists to count the supervisor candidate’s supervision toward
licensure.
This course includes interaction on a private listserv that is maintained by the
instructors. Only participants in the course will have access to the listserv. Participants are expected to
contribute to discussions on the listserv. Those who do not contribute to the listserv will be required to
write a separate short paper about a topic that was discussed on the listserv. Course instructors will post
questions and discussion topics and request that participants to also post questions and
topics.
Readings and
Resources: As
might be imagined, there are many potential resources for supervising marriage and family therapists. There are
three required texts for the course:
AAMFT. (2000). Readings in family
therapy supervision. Alexandria, VA:
Author.
Lee, R. E., & Everett, C. A.
(2004). The integrative family therapy
supervisor. New York:
Brunner-Routledge.
Storm,
C. L., & Todd, T. (2003). The reasonably complete systemic
supervisor resource guide. Lincoln, NE:
iUniverse.
Each module includes a
list of required readings and potential resources that the
instructors believe will be useful for supervisors and for writing the philosophy of supervision
paper. All articles and book
chapters listed can be found in the Reader that is included with the course and available for download. The reader
includes educational fair use copies of valuable resources. Participants are, of course, encouraged to search
out their own resources that fit their styles and contexts of supervision. Keep in mind, however, that
this course is systemically based and that the assignments must reflect a systemic understanding of the
topics.
Assignments and Process
Toward Approved Supervisor Designation: The AAMFT Approved
Supervisor Designation Standards
and Responsibilities Handbook lays out all rules, regulations, procedures for the
designation. Supervisor Candidates should familiarize themselves thoroughly with the handbook. In
addition to completing a Fundamentals of Supervision course,
candidates must be mentored in their supervision of trainees. Mentors will evaluate candidates and
provide AAMFT with their evaluations at the time the candidate applies for the
designation.
Assignments are designed to help participants think
through various module topics in the absence of the interactive portion of a full Fundamentals of Supervision
course. They also are designed to help participants with various sections of the philosophy of supervision
paper. Therefore, we strongly encourage participants to cite readings in each module as they write their
assignments.
Candidates must complete all assignments for all
modules plus a paper that reflects their personal philosophy of supervision in order to complete the
course. All assignments must show breadth and depth of thought
on the topics required. Required readings, which are provided in the Reader are seen as
starting points for the module and the listserv. Each assignment should include relevant literature as
recent as possible with regard to the topic, 2000 and later. Participants are expected to go beyond required
readings for the assignments and philosophy of supervision paper.
Interactive Course Requirement: In addition
to this online didactic course, supervisor candidates must complete the interactive supervision track at
the AAMFT's annual conference. This track consists of a full-day institute at the beginning of the
conference; two workshops on each day, Friday and Saturday; and one workshop on Sunday. At this time, the
AAMFT is not approving any other courses to satisfy the interactive portion of the course requirement.
Participants should check with AAMFT before enrolling in courses that are advertised as satisfying the
interactive portion of the requirements.
Evaluation:
All
assignments except the Philosophy of Supervision paper will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Evaluation of
the Philosophy of Supervision paper will be based on the AAMFT Approved Supervisor’s Evaluation rubrics
found in the AAMFT Approved Supervisors Designation Handbook plus areas the instructors have found to be
crucial. The instructors will evaluate each area on a Likert Scale of 0-4, 0 = Not present, 1 = Inadequate
(named but not defined), 2 = Fair (named and defined but not discussed/explained), 3 = Good (named, defined,
discussed/explained, illustrated), 4 = Excellent (named, defined, discussed/explained, illustrated,
integrated). The Likert scale ratings will also include subjective judgment of how well each area is
addressed. Feedback for improving areas of the paper will be provided. Participants who are not satisfied
with their evaluations and not willing to rewrite sections of the paper may request that the second
instructor evaluate the paper. Responses to the second instructor’s feedback will be required for completing
the assignment.
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