Supervision, Consultation, and Training
What to know
Supervision is a distinct competency with its own models (developmental, discrimination, integrative) and tasks: gatekeeping, evaluation, and ensuring client welfare. Know the supervisory working alliance, the power differential, and the need for informed consent for supervision, including who sees records and how evaluation occurs. Distinguish supervision (evaluative, hierarchical) from consultation (peer, non-evaluative) and from therapy (not appropriate for supervisees). Understand vicarious liability, due process in remediation, and documentation of supervision. Multicultural supervision addresses identity and power dynamics. Consultation models include client-centered, consultee-centered, and program-centered.
Traps
Questions often test dual roles-supervising a friend or providing therapy to a supervisee is problematic. Watch for items where a supervisor must act on an impaired supervisee: the answer is due process and gatekeeping, not silence. Another trap is assuming supervision is confidential in the same way as therapy; it carries evaluation and record-keeping duties.
Rule of thumb
When a supervisee's competence or impairment raises client-safety concerns, document, consult, and follow due process; client welfare outranks the supervisee's comfort.
Worked example
A supervisee discloses substance use before sessions. The supervisor documents, addresses fitness for duty, and follows the program's remediation process rather than ignoring it to preserve the relationship.