Developing clinical supervision for complementary therapy educators.

Abstract

To facilitate reflective practice with students of complementary therapy clinical tutors themselves require an understanding and experience of reflective practice. The aim of this study was to implement and evaluate a clinical supervision framework for clinical tutors teaching on the complementary therapy undergraduate program. Clinical supervision was conducted in small groups with a skilled clinical supervisor, and focused on issues arising in the teaching clinic. The evaluation consisted of questionnaires, interviews and focus groups with participants (clinical tutors and clinical supervision facilitators). There is strong evidence that clinical supervision groups offered a supportive learning framework for the clinical tutors, and that this was likely to impact on work with students and patients in a positive way.