Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Training and Supervision Provided to Spanish/English Bilingual Graduate Students

Abstract

Spanish/English bilingual graduate students (n = 7) completed interviews evaluating language variables, training variables, and supervision related experiences. Experiences were gathered through the use of open-ended questions which focused on participants’ linguistic abilities, program coursework, training experiences, and supervision experiences. A phenomenological research design was applied to analyze the collected data from the qualitative interviews. A phenomenological research design uses the collection of qualitative (open-ended) data in response to the research question (Mruk, 2010). Results indicated that the most common areas in the program which graduate students identified as most helpful in preparation for working with Spanish-speaking Latinx clients were the clinical courses taught in Spanish, program curriculum, and the supervision provided in a Spanish/English bilingual format. The most common program recommendations included increased exposure to Spanish, expanding on the topics taught, and increasing the availability of the Spanish-based practicum class.