Effective Clinical Supervision in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs and Counselor Job Performance.

When mental health counselors have limited and/or inadequate training in substance use disorders (SUDs), effective clinical supervision (ECS) may advance their professional development. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether ECS is related to the job performance of SUD counselors. Data were obtained in person via paper-and-pencil surveys from 392 matched SUD counselor-clinical supervisor dyads working in 27 SUD treatment organizations across the United States.

The relationship between perceptions of organizational functioning and voluntary counselor turnover: a four-wave longitudinal study.

Using data from a nationwide study, we annually track a cohort of 598 substance use disorder counselors over a four-wave period to (a) document the cumulative rates of voluntary turnover and (b) examine how counselor perceptions of the organizational environment (procedural justice, distributive justice, perceived organizational support, and job satisfaction) and clinical supervisor leadership effectiveness (relationship quality, in-role performance, extra-role performance) predict voluntary turnover over time. Survey data were collected from counselors in Year 1, and actual turnover data were collected from organizational records in Years 2, 3, and 4. Findings reveal that 25% of the original counselors turned over by Year 2, 39% by Year 3, and 47% by Year 4.