Turkish Undergraduate Supervisees’ Views Regarding Supervisory Relationship

Purpose: The supervisory relationship plays a pivotal role in clinical supervision. It is important for supervisors and researchers to identify factors regarding a strong supervisory relationship. In the international literature, research found that various factors influence the supervisory relationship. However, research is limited regarding supervisory relationship in undergraduate counselor education in Turkey. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine Turkish undergraduate supervisees’ views regarding supervisory relationship. Research Methods: Case study design was used in this study. Participants were selected with maximum variation and extreme case sampling methods. Twelve undergraduate supervisees participated in individual semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed by content analysis. Findings: The content analysis indicated three main categories: the quality of the relationship, supervisee and supervisor characteristics that likely influence the relationship, and the outcomes of the relationship. Implications for Research and Practice: Based on the findings of this study, the most obvious implication is that the supervisory relationship is one of the key components of supervision, and in order to improve the quality of this relationship, developmental needs and expectations of supervisees, as well as supervisors’ own variables affecting the relationship, should be carefully taken into consideration by supervisors. We also hope that this attempt to explore the supervisory relationship in Turkey enterprises will encourage researchers for further studies, which will be intended to use different research designs that include collecting data at different sessions of supervision from different universities, thus indicating a way for supervisors to develop strong supervisory relationship with supervisees