Supervision, particularly as a component of initial training, and increasingly as a contributory element in continuing professional development, is deeply embedded in the cultures of the helping professions. This is despite the claim (Holloway and Neufeldt, 1995) that there is no research on standardised and empirically validated training programmes for supervisors. Client outcome is the ultimate test of the effectiveness of supervision. But the relationship between supervisor interventions and client change is subtle and complex. Not surprisingly, attempts to account for and understand this relationship have produced little of substance, and serious methodological deficiencies prevail (Ellis, Ladany, Krengel and Schult, 1996; Holloway and Neufeldt, 1995; Russell, Crimmings and Lent, 1984)
