Barriers impacting the utilization of supervision techniques in genetic counseling

Clinical supervision is an essential element in training genetic counselors. Although live supervision has been identified as the most common supervision technique utilized in genetic counseling, there is limited information on factors influencing its use as well as the use of other techniques. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers supervisors face when implementing supervision techniques. All participants (N = 141) reported utilizing co-counseling. This was most used with novice students (96.1%) and intermediate students (93.7%). Other commonly used techniques included live supervision where the supervisor is silent during session (98.6%) which was used most frequently with advanced students (94.0%), and student self-report (64.7%) used most often with advanced students (61.2%). Though no barrier to these commonly used techniques was identified by a majority of participants, the most frequently reported barriers included time and concern about patient's welfare. The remaining supervision techniques (live remote observation, video, and audio recording) were each used by less than 10% of participants. Barriers that significantly influenced use of these techniques included lack of facilities/equipment and concern about patient reactions to technique. Understanding barriers to implementation of supervisory techniques may allow students to be efficiently trained in the future by reducing supervisor burnout and increasing the diversity of techniques used.