IJSP Number 7, 2025

International Journal of Supervision in Psychotherapy, Number 7, 2025 Page | 72 Although a comprehensive explication of the approach is beyond the scope of this article, the following features and best practices stand out as essential: 1. Facilitate the development of the supervisory alliance (including the collaborative identification of the goals and the means to achieve the goals) and monitor the state of the alliance over time, e.g., events that strengthen or strain the alliance, and identify and build upon supervisee strengths, address and repair strains and ruptures; 2. Adopt an "intentional" stance to competency development as the ongoing focus of clinical supervision collaboratively identifying strengths and areas in development and scaffolding areas of lesser competence; 3. Identify the competencies that will be the focus of training, including their constituent components (i.e., knowledge, skill, and attitudes) that are assembled to form the competencies and work to enhance those in development; 4. Collaboratively develop a supervision contract that provides a framework for the work of clinical supervision, the scope of clinical practice, and administrative requirements, and identifies the roles and responsibilities of the supervisor and supervisee and the observation, evaluation, feedback, and training processes. Discuss issues related to the power differential, commitment to transparency and integrity, and approaches to remedy strains that may occur during supervision; 5. Collaboratively plan the structure of the supervision sessions, including the "before session" activities that prepare for the session and the activities that will follow the session. The structure and processes of the session should be continuously evaluated and modified as required to ensure effectiveness; 6. Identify processes of observation (e.g., direct observation, in-session, video, transcripts, use of patient measures such as the WAI, OQ45) and evaluation, and collaboratively engage in formative and summative evaluation and provide feedback that enhances education and training; 7. Give ongoing evaluative and supportive feedback that encourages reflection and leads to specific learning opportunities, which enhance professional competence; 8. Encourage reflective practice and address the roles of individual diversity, culture and context, and personal factors affecting the therapeutic (and supervisory) relationships (i.e., countertransference and parallel processes), and ensuring cultural humility; 9. Ensure that all supervisees have received adequate training to make sure all services are provided in accordance with legal, ethical, and professional standards. The provision of competency-based clinical supervision is supported by continuous education and training of supervisors, including the use of supervision of supervision (SOS). Through a thorough review of beginning supervisors’ video and feedback provided, supervision of supervision provides a structured approach to enhance competence in providing competency-based clinical supervision [17]. As clinical supervision has been described as the “missing ingredient” [7], it is critical that increased recognition and dedicated training occur. Clinical supervision is the only competence required by the Committee on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association that is not formally assessed [29]. This speaks to the lesser importance attached to training and execution of clinical supervision. Supervisees frequently comment on the significant omission of clinical supervision training as it tends