| The purpose of this study was to identify perceptions of Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Social Workers, and Licensed Psychologists regarding intimate behaviors in clinical supervision. A second purpose of the study was to identify perceptions of Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Social Workers and Licensed Psychologists regarding intimate behaviors based on the participants' sex. Another purpose of the study was to examine the number of reports of sexual incidents in clinical supervision among Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Social Workers, and Licensed Psychologists.; Participants included 102 Licensed Professional Counselors, 53 Licensed Social Workers, and 83 Licensed Psychologists from the five United States regions. Demographic information and measures of the study were obtained from the participants by a mailed self-report survey. Demographic information provided by the respondents indicated that 45% were men and 55% were women. Approximately 98% were Caucasian and 1% were African-American. Results of the study indicated no statistically significant difference in the perceptions of Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Social Workers, and Licensed Psychologists regarding intimate behaviors in clinical supervision based on sex. Also, the study revealed that none of the respondents reported engaging sexually with a supervisee or supervisor during the supervisory relationship.; Additional analysis of the instrument and items based on the Rasch Model revealed that 12 of the 14 items were defining the same underlying principle. The Rasch Model also indicated that the ranking of item difficulty was inconsistent between respondents in the role of a supervisor and in the role of a supervisee. An examination of the items indicated that behaviors such as “hugging”, “dating”, “kissing”, and “handpatting” during the supervisory relationship revealed low endorsements in the agree to strongly agree categories. Though it was noted that no statistically significant difference was found among the three groups investigated, the endorsement by some respondents of high-risk behaviors indicated alarm for the professions. The high-risk behaviors endorsed by respondents were behaviors suggested by past researchers which lead to sexual relationships among supervisee and supervisor in clinical supervision. It is believed that information obtained by this study may facilitate and enhance mental health training programs regarding supervisory ethics, dual relationships, and the circumstances that may lead to sexual inappropriateness in clinical supervision. |
