Some clinicians use a simple master–apprentice approach to supervision; others utilize tools from their preferred model of psychotherapy.

In this book, Brian McNeil and Cal Stoltenberg offer supervisors and trainees a different approach: their integrative developmental model of supervision. This empirically-tested model incorporates elements of cognitive models, schema and skill development, interpersonal influence, and social intelligence alongside models of human development to create a truly eclectic and time-tested approach to clinical supervision.

The authors' model tracks therapists' development across all skill levels and theoretical orientations. Students and trainees are evaluated across domains of practice that include intervention skills competence, assessment techniques, individual differences, treatment plans and goals, and professional ethics, among others. The authors provide clear guidelines for progression, from beginner levels — highly motivated trainees who remain highly dependent on the supervisor — to more advanced supervisees, who are better attuned to individual differences in clients and seek more sophisticated clinical responses, all the way to master level therapists.

The book also offers analyses of the authors' supervisory sessions with real clinical trainees, including those documented in the companion DVD, The Integrative Developmental Model of Supervision.