Promoting counselor growth through mentorship: A clinical supervision training

Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Danya International developed a 30-hour multimedia in-person and Web-based training curriculum for clinical supervisors of substance abuse counselors. The Promoting Counselor Growth Through Mentorship curriculum is designed to increase the knowledge and skill set of clinical supervisors in the substance abuse field as well as to prepare senior addiction treatment staff to become clinical supervisors. Other goals include: to help counselors achieve Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS) certification from the IC&RC; to increase learning, skills acquisition, and adoption of new knowledge regarding clinical supervision using a variety of learning styles; and to increase opportunities for professional mentorship, clinical competency, and professional growth. The PCGTM training program consists of a comprehensive and highly interactive Web-based curriculum and 3-day in-person training led by an expert in the field of substance abuse counseling and clinical supervision. Training modules have been developed to encourage group discussion, problem-solving activities, and role plays in a didactic and engaging learning environment. In addition, a train-the-trainer component was also developed to encourage exemplary supervisors to share the PCGTM curriculum with others at their sites. Researchers conducted a comprehensive outcome evaluation of participant knowledge, attitudes and satisfaction with training experiences. Participants from treatment and control groups were tracked for 3 months following training completion to determine training impact. Overwhelmingly, participants receiving PCGTM training responded positively to the training. PCGTM training participants demonstrate a significant increase in knowledge regarding clinical supervision principles and an improvement in self-confidence which was not significant.