| A clinical supervision team in a Counselor Education program consisting of one doctoral level supervisor, two master level counselors and doctoral level counselor participated in a qualitative study focusing on the use of language and its impact on their professional identities and relationships. The purpose of the investigation was to better understand how language affects their emergent professional identities and relationships, grounded through a hermeneutic theoretical foundation. Actual supervisory session data was used, broken out into four distinct sets of transcripts, including two group interviews and two sets of texts devoted to the counselors' work with the supervisor.;Discourse analysis was utilized to explore how language enacts and shapes identities and relationships, revealing multiple discourses formed, maintained, and altered, including identity fluidity, competence/confidence, language negotiation, navigating co-counselor relationships, counselor style and pacing, the teacher and student relationship, becoming "real" counselors, "looking" the part, supervisory structure, and instruction. Several of these discourses were shared across the transcripts, while others were unique. The findings indicate that both counselors and the supervisor alike use language to help foster their professional development, face challenges and obstacles to gaining a better sense of competence, and look to each other to be challenged and nurtured.;The implications for research and practice discussed, noting how this particular analytical method would best serve understanding how language shapes thoughts and actions in supervision as well as counseling. Findings can help inform training programs to consider using these approaches to help foster supervisory and clinical development, as well as offer guidance to emerging professionals once their formal training ceases and they seek employment post-graduation. |
