Department

Psychology, Professional

Date

Spring 5-17-2023

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)

Type of Paper/Work

Dissertation

Advisor

Salina Renninger

Second Advisor

Nathaniel William Nelson

Third Advisor

Julia Kidwell

Abstract

This study investigated the correlation between vicarious trauma and supervisory working alliance among clinicians who provide sex offense-specific treatment utilizing a quantative non-parametric method. The study included 22 clinicians who provide sex offense-specific treatment and were receiving clinical supervision at the time of the study. Participants resided within Australia (9.1%), Canada (13.6%) and the United States (77.3%). Participants were recruited from professional global organizations, professional organizations within the United States and agencies within Minnesota. Participants completed a Qualtrics survey which included a demographic survey, Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), Supervisory Working Alliance (SWA)-Supervisee Form and four optional questions about historical psychiatric diagnoses and treatments. The results of the study found a nonsignificant negative correlation between scores on the SWA-Supervisee Form and scores on the STSS (rho=-.006, p=.979). Results found a significant positive correlation betwn STSS scores and hours per week providing sex offense-specific treatment (rho=.627, p=-.002). A weak negative correlation was found between SWA-Supervisee Form scores and hours per week providing sex offense-specific treatment (rho=-.054, p=.815). Results of the current study suggest there is a relationship between hours per week providing sex offense-specific treatment and experiences of vicarious trauma. Supervisory working alliance does not appear to be associated with vicarious trauma. Future research examining additional constructs associated with vicarious trauma is warranted. Additionally, due to the small sample size of the current study, additional research examining vicarious trauma and supervisory working alliance is warranted.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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