Author Information
Wei-Shan Chang, National Changhua University of Education, TaiwanTsung-Chain Huang, National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan
Abstract
The novice counseling supervisor is at an early stage in the development of their supervisory practice, experiencing anxiety, doubts, and conflicts related to their abilities, role identity, and supervisory relationships. Therefore, in addition to supervising counselors, they also require “supervision of supervision.” This study employs a case study method to present the process of a novice counseling supervisor engaging in “constructivist-oriented sandtray supervision.” The purpose is to observe and reflect on the supervisory process, synthesizing how this supervisory model facilitates learning for novice counseling supervisors. Constructivist-oriented sandtray supervision emphasizes the mutual subjectivity between the supervisor and the supervisee. Through discussion and reflection, it allows for the emergence of personal knowledge specific to the novice counselor supervisor, integrating the sandtray therapy method. This approach provides a free and safe exploratory environment to reduce supervisee anxiety, visualizes supervisory issues through sensory and tactile engagement, and uses metaphors to increase awareness of the supervisee's inner states, countertransference, and parallel processes. It also aids the supervisee in expressing emotions, reconstructing meaning, and taking action. The research findings indicate that the process of constructivist-oriented sandtray supervision can be divided into four stages: (1) the pre-supervision stage, involving non-verbal communication through object selection and placement; (2) clarifying the supervisee's confusion and case conceptualization; (3) developing a deeper conceptualization of the supervisee’s issues; and (4) helping the novice supervisor recognize themselves in the supervisory relationship with the supervisee. Reflecting on this process offers the potential to expand the possibilities of novice counseling supervisor models.
Paper Information
Conference: ACP2025Stream: Psychology and Education
This paper is part of the ACP2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
Full Paper
View / Download the full paper in a new tab/window
To cite this article:
Chang W., & Huang T. (2025) Constructivist-Oriented Sandtray Supervision Model: A Case Study of a Novice Counseling Supervisor ISSN: 2187-4743 – The Asian Conference on Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences 2025 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 343-356) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4743.2025.27
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4743.2025.27
Comments
Powered by WP LinkPress