Notice bibliographique
Brien, A., Bilodeau, C., Savard, R. et Dionne, P. (2025). Examining the associations between reflexive self-awareness and self-compassion on early supervisory alliance development in Canadian counseling and psychotherapy trainees. Training and Education in Professional Psychology.
Résumé
The alliance is often seen as the cornerstone of effective clinical supervision. To date, little research has identified characteristics of supervisees that could contribute to the creation of a strong supervisory alliance. Factors that help regulate emotions and relationships, such as self-compassion and reflexive self-awareness, are theorized to have a positive influence on the establishment of a strong working alliance. This study used a predictive correlational design to test the effect of self-compassion and reflexive self-awareness on the supervisory alliance using a sample of 82 graduate-level Canadian career counseling and psychotherapy supervisees. Linear regressions indicated that the capacity for reflexive self-awareness present prior to the start of the supervisory process was significantly associated with the strength of the supervisory alliance early in the process of supervision. Degree of self-compassion present prior to the start of the supervisory process was not found to have an impact on early formation of the supervisory alliance. A follow-up multiple linear regression analysis found that specifically, the Engagement in Self-Reflection Subscale (β = .583, t = 4.42, p = .001) significantly predicted the early alliance score. While the establishment of the alliance is not linked to the supervisee’s level of self-compassion, it appears that those who tended to engage in reflexive self-awareness early in the supervision process were able to establish stronger collaborative alliances with their supervisors.
