Spirituality, gender, and supervisory style in supervision

This dissertation explores spirituality as a facet of marriage and family therapy supervision, which is a key component of training clinicians. Supervision is a complex process; therefore, it would seem that several factors shape how therapists-in-training perceive the conversations about spirituality in this context. The sex of therapist and sex of supervisor influences the experiences of supervisees, given that gender issues relate to power and hierarchy. Moreover, supervisory style has emerged as a key factor affecting therapist/supervisor interactions. This study, therefore, explores these issues using the following guiding question: Is gender associated with variations in perceptions of supervisory style and the frequency with which spiritual issues are addressed in supervision?