Intentionality in Academic Telesupervision: A Phenomenological Study of Faculty Telesupervisors’ Experiences

Schmittel, Emily M.; Lettenberger-Klein, Cassandra; Oliver, Tracy; Butterfras, Rachel F.; Adamson, Darren W.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a widespread shift to telehealth, there is an increased need to understand how we can best provide Telesupervision (TS). To help address the limited research on TS in the Marriage and family therapy (MFT) field, the present study seeks to describe the experiences of faculty telesupervisors who have provided TS as part of an online COAMFTE Accredited MFT master’s program since 2012 (telesupervision was provided before accreditation since 2005). Eighteen participants completed individual interviews or focus groups, which were analyzed using descriptive phenomenological procedures. Our results describe the essential structure of faculty supervisors’ experiences providing TS. Core themes include: general experiences with TS as a modality, online university-specific experiences with TS as a modality, a systemic lens is intentionally applied, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are intentionally addressed, and clinical competencies and ethics are intentionally addressed. A discussion of the essential experiences of faculty TS along with implications for clinical training and future research are reviewed.