Building Effective Supervisory Relationships in the Online Counseling Course: Faculty and Student Responsibilities.

Abstract

This article will provide an outline for counselor educators and their students on how to develop and maintain solid supervisory relationships in the online classroom. Counselors-in-training are required to complete practicum and internship experiences during their graduate academic preparation. These field experience courses typically involve 100 to 300 hours of on-site practice in school or mental health settings, under the supervision of certified or licensed counseling practitioners. In addition to the experiential learning, counseling interns participate in a weekly seminar of two to three hours in duration with a counseling faculty instructor serving as the faculty supervisor. These seminar courses allow for interns to examine their skill and technique development, review specific cases, and engage in selfand peerevaluation of their overall on-site performance. The faculty supervisor plays an important role in providing ongoing guidance, mentoring, and constructive feedback for interns to facilitate their professional growth during the course (Sweitzer & King, 2014). As more and more traditional seminar courses are offered in the online classroom, the development of effective online supervisory relationships, a crucial aspect of counseling trainee success, must be considered. The responsibilities of the counselor educator and counseling student in the online internship course will be discussed to ensure that the supervisory relationship supports, rather than hindering the growth and development of the future professional counselor (Hollins-Alexander, 2013). Successful communication and evaluation practices will be