IDM/Developmental

By Dean Hirschi
Background
 Stands for Integrated Developmental Model
 Originally developed in 1981 by Stoltenberg (Bornsheuer-Boswell, et
al., 2013)
 Updated over the years
 Most commonly used and known developmental model of supervision
(Bornsheuer-Boswell, et al., 2013)
 Primary goal is competence as professional counselors (Bornsheuer-
Boswell, 2013)
 Creates markers for areas of growth (Boie & Lopez, 2011; Gallo,
2013)
 Framework for understanding Supervisee progress
Key Concepts
 The Eight Domains of Professional Functioning (Boie, & Lopez, 2011)
 There are four levels (1, 2, 3, 3i) (Bornsheuer-Boswell, et al., 2013)
 Each level represent greater flexibility and addressing ambiguity (Fan &
Haskins, 2020)
 Each level incorporates “Structures” (Boie, & Lopez, 2011)
 Self-Other Awareness
 Motivation
 Autonomy
 In Summary
 Structures are a part of Level which are a part of the Eight Domains
 By the end, a supervisee should be level 3i in each of the Eight Domains
The Structures (Boie, & Lopez, 2011)
 Awareness
 Supervisee’s awareness of their own ability and their awareness of the
needs of the client. Because of the nature of therapy, these two forms
of awareness will grow alongside one another.
 Autonomy
 Supervisee’s ability to work independently of their supervisor. This is
both in aptitude and in professional process.
 Motivation
 Supervisee’s interest in growing their competency, knowledge, and the
scope of their therapeutic expertise.
Level 1 (Boie, & Lopez, 2011)
 Therapist is a novice
 Motivation: High
 Supervisees are eager to learn and understand their role.
 Awareness: Low
 Supervisees are just beginning to learn about their lack of ability and what is
required to grow.
 Autonomy: Low
 Supervisees are not yet ready to operate without their supervisors.
 Main Component: Interest in gaining a greater understanding of
interacting with clients and being able to speak and act with
sensitivity and support
Level 2 (Boie, & Lopez, 2011)
 Conflict between ability and competency; Supervisees may withdraw
 Clear distinctions in what they can and cannot do
 Motivation: Low
 Supervisee’s confidence drops, lowers their motivation to improve.
 Awareness: Medium
 Supervisee has the experience to understand their role, but may lack the
competence to handle complex client interactions.
 Autonomy: Medium
 Supervisee has a little more autonomy, but not enough that they can operate
on their own.
 Main Component: Decrease in confidence because insight has grown but
competence has not kept up.
Level 3 (Boie, & Lopez, 2011)
 Supervisee has attained the competency to operate adequately.
 Motivation: Medium
 Supervisees are internally motivated by the realization that they are capable.
 Awareness: High
 Supervisees are aware not only of what they know, but what they don't know.
They can regulate their own growth and have the drive to grow their
knowledge when they recognize gaps.
 Autonomy: High
 At this level, a supervisee can operate without their supervisor, moving the
supervisor relationship from partner to an advisor.
 Main Component: Self-Actualization in both competency and freedom.
Level 3i (Boie, & Lopez, 2011)
 Level 3, but individualized style and approach to therapy
 Motivation: High
 Supervisees not only are capable, but have developed their own methods
and apply them to great effect.
 Awareness: High
 Supervisees are aware that there is no “one size fits all” approach to
therapy and has developed what works for them and their clients.
 Autonomy: High
 Supervisees have been given the control of their work environment to
develop these individualized methods.
 Main Component: Individual identity as a therapist and personalized process.
The Eight Domains (Boie, & Lopez, 2011)
 Intervention Skills Incompetence
 Appropriate counseling skills to address client problems.
 Assessment Techniques
 Confidence and ability to perform assessments.
 Interpersonal Assessment
 Identifying underlying details/personalize assessment to client.
 Client Conceptualization
 Understanding of how factors play into a client’s life.
The Eight Domains (Boie, & Lopez, 2011)
 Individual Differences
 Understanding diversity in client population.
 Theoretical Orientation
 Ability to understand and implement theory.
 Treatment Plans and Goals
 Represents a variety of other domain, making it somewhat based on
experiences.
 Professional Ethics
 Understanding of ethical standards and likely ethical dilemmas.
Applications
 A framework for underlying progress and layout characteristics a
supervisee should have. (Gallo, 2013)
 Promotes Personal and Professional Development. (Zhou, et al., 2019)
 Professional: clinical competence and knowledge of the professional field.
 Personal: knowledge of values, history, culture, acculturation.
 Shown to help supervisor better address needs of International
supervisees (Fan & Haskins, 2020)
 Other models tend to focus on professional skills exclusively not allowing
for personal growth/consideration which can often be needed by
international supervisees.
Social Work Implications
 Primarily Purpose is supervising counseling students (Fan &
Haskins, 2020)
 IDM’s function in clinical social work supervision is similar to its
role in other clinical supervision, evaluation of the competency of
the supervisee.
 Where IDM can really excel in clinical social work supervision is
with its ability to focus on area-specific competency.
 In clinical social work, different sub-fields (e.g. geriatrics, addiction,
pediatrics, family care) each require their own skill sets and
competencies. IDM can be applied to even experienced social workers
to assist in building their competency in new areas.
Example (Based on Zhou, et al., 2019)
Alexa is a social worker student that immigrated from Mexico. Her
first language was Spanish, but she is fluent in English as well. In the
beginning of her internship in the United States, she was very nervous
in everything she did (Level 1, all eight, Low Autonomy/Awareness).
Her supervisor proved to be very supportive and making a point of
complimenting her on her English (catering to Alexa’s Level). Alexa
was so worried about how she was doing and truly appreciated these
compliments. After the first month, Alexa is asked to start assessments
despite not feeling confident. She is very embarrassed when she
finished one assessment, finds items she didn't see and has to call the
client back.
Example cont. (Based on Zhou, et al., 2019)
About half-way through, the supervisor thought that Alaxa could still
use some improvements in Assessment Techniques and Interpersonal
Assessments which disheartened Alexa (Level 2, Domains listed, Low
Motivation), but thought she had made some great progress in many of
the other areas. The supervisor kept working with Alexa and over time
was able to truly excel in these areas specifically (Level 3 in
Assessment Techniques and Interpersonal Assessments specifically). A
month before the end of her internship, the supervisor called in Alexa
just to chat and see what her plans were for the future. The supervisor
said that Alexa’s English was so good that she might consider working
with the local Spanish-speaking community.
Example cont. (Based on Zhou, et al., 2019)
Alexa did not say anything, but was hurt. For as much as that
compliment meant so much to her before, now she felt that she was so
much more now and their meetings together showed that progress
(Level 3, Good Awareness, Motivation, Autonomy). On the last week
of her internship, Alexa made it a point to sit down with the new
intern. They went over a few points the Intern has some difficulty with
and made it a point to go over Assessment Techniques and
Interpersonal Assessments especially well (Level 3i). With that, she
went on to be a supervisor herself.
 References
Boie, I., & Lopez, A. (2011). Supervision of counselors working with eating disorders:
Utilizing the integrated developmental model. The Clinical
Supervisor, 30(2), 215–234. https://doi- org.eps.cc.ysu.edu/10.1080/07325223.2011.607744
Bornsheuer-Boswell, J. N., Polonyi, M. M., & Watts, R. E. (2013). Integrating Adlerian and
integrated developmental model approaches to supervision of counseling trainees. Journal
of Individual Psychology, 69(4), 328–343.
Fan, S., & Haskins, N. H. (2020). Integrated developmental model and culture shock: An
integrative model for supervising international counseling students. Journal of Asia Pacific
Counseling, 10(2), 51–68. https://doi- org.eps.cc.ysu.edu/10.18401/2020.10.2.7
Gallo, L. L. (2013). The Need for Developmental Models in Supervising School
Counselors. Journal of School Counseling, 11(19).
Zhou, X., Zhu, P., & Miao, I. Y. (2019). Incorporating an acculturation perspective into the
Integrative Developmental Model (IDM) in supervising international trainees. Training and
Education in Professional Psychology. https://doi- org.eps.cc.ysu.edu/10.1037/tep0000278