Rural and remote psychologists’ views on provisional psychologist supervision

ABSTRACT

Objective

South Australia’s rural and remote psychology workforce is experiencing shortages. However, in seeking to place provisional psychologists in rural settings, universities have found it difficult to recruit supervising psychologists. This study seeks to understand what rural and remote psychologists view as the barriers and facilitators of supervising provisional psychologists.

Method

A qualitative research methodology was used. Ten rural or remote psychologists participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results

Barriers and Facilitators were explained by participants, including three sub-themes to Facilitators not previously reported in the literature: Benefits, Ownership, and Motivation. All participants expressed altruistic motivations for supervision however factors such as the Medicare rebate rates, feelings of division within the profession of psychology, and confusion about required qualifications to supervise acted as deterrents to offering supervision. Differences were evident between supervision in public and private practice contexts.

Conclusions

The findings from this study warrant further exploration and action from the profession and government. Proposed solutions to the barriers identified include government funding for supervision, equalising the Medicare rebate items, and better promoting the benefits of supervising. This research offers novel insight into the views of rural psychologists on supervision and professional commitment more broadly.

Key Points

What is already known about this topic:

1. Rural and remote psychologists develop a unique set of context-based skills and knowledge.

2. There is a shortage of psychologists in rural and remote areas of Australia.

3. Universities struggle to place students in rural areas in part due to a shortage of psychologist supervisors.

What this topic adds:

1. Rural psychologists in private practice consider the prospect of supervision resource intensive and potentially disruptive to client care.

2. Non-Clinical Endorsed psychologists reported feelings of frustration and perceptions of inferiority tied to their lower Medicare item rebate and feedback received during the retirement of the 4 + 2 pathway.

3. The perceived messages of inferiority increased disengagement and reduced motivation to “give back” through provision of supervision.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychology
• supervision
• rural and remote

Acknowledgements

This manuscript is based on data funded by a grant from the SA Health Research Partnerships Small Grant Scheme 2020/2021, CIs Anne Gannoni, Rachel Roberts, Alyssa Sawyer, and Anna Chur-Hansen. Thank you to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful advice and feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The raw data cannot be shared, due to confidentiality for participants.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the SA Health Research Partnerships Small Grant Scheme [2020/2021].