Clinical decision making in behavioral supervision: "... and how does thatmake you feel?"

This article describes the application of a problem-solving model to the pr ocess of supervision, specifically focusing on the issue of problems relate d to discussions of emotional reactions to patients. The Problem-solving mo del encompasses five key processes: problem orientation, problem definition and formulation, generation of alternatives, decision making, and solution implementation and verification. To illustrate this process, a beginning s upervisor applies the model to her supervision of a student therapist worki ng with chronically ill patients.