Pilot Study of the FOCUS Supervision Strategy to Improve Supervision and Counselor Well-being in Substance Use Disorder Residential Treatment Programs

What this Trial Is About

Substance use disorders, including addiction to opioids, methamphetamines, and alcohol, affect nearly 50 million people annually in the United States. This research aims to develop and pilot a new supervision strategy designed to improve the support clinical supervisors provide to counselors in substance use disorder SUD residential treatment programs. The study focuses on addressing organizational challenges like counselor burnout and turnover, which affect service quality in these programs. The study tests the FOCUS supervision strategy, a strengths-based model tailored for SUD settings. This strategy includes five pillars for effective supervision, practical skills for supervisors, and experiential activities to help staff apply these skills in real-life situations. Supervisors will be trained and coached in this new approach, which is expected to improve supervision quality and, in turn, counselors well-being and performance. Participants will include supervisors and counselors from residential SUD treatment programs. Researchers will assess outcomes such as counselor self-efficacy, supervisor fidelity to the FOCUS strategy, leadership qualities, organizational climate, burnout, counselor performance, turnover, client treatment completion, and satisfaction. These will be measured at regular intervals over two years to evaluate the strategys feasibility, acceptability, and impact, providing insights for future larger studies.

Supervision in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs