Abstract
Clinical supervision is an essential aspect of every health service provider’s professional development and training. Serving as a supervisor of a graduate student or trainee can be a very rewarding professional activity. But, what should you be aware of and what are the factors you should consider if offered the opportunity to provide clinical supervision? A number of clinical, ethics, legal, and practical issues are addressed to assist health service providers to enter into this role in a competent and effective manner. Specific issues addressed include understanding supervisor roles and responsibilities, what specific competencies are needed to be an effective supervisor and how to develop them, the qualities and practices of effective and ineffective supervisors; the difference between supervision and mentoring, how to effectively infuse ethics, legal, and diversity issues into supervision; and how to effectively end the supervision relationship. Specific guidance is provided and key resources for those interested in learning more about being a supervisor are provided.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics
American Psychological Association. (2015). Guidelines for clinical supervision in health service psychology. American Psychologist, 70, 33–46.
Barnett, J. E., & Molzon, C. H. (2014). Clinical supervision of psychotherapy: Essential ethics issues for supervisors and supervisees. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 70(11), 1051–1061.
Bernard, J. M., & Goodyear, R. K. (2014). Fundamentals of clinical supervision (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Campoli, J., Cummings, J., Heidt, C., O’Connell, M. E., Mossiere, A., & Pierce, A. (2016, June). Top 5 components of “good enough” supervision. [Web article]. Retrieved from http://societvforpsvchotherapv.org/top-5-components-qood-enouqh-supervision
Dunning, D., Johnson, K., Ehrlinger, J., & Kruger, J. (2003). Why people fail to recognize their own incompetence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 83–87.
Ellis, M. A. (2001). Harmful supervision, a cause for alarm: Comment on Gray et al. (2001) and Nelson and Friedlander (2001). Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48(4), 401–406.
Falender, C. A., Erickson Cornish, J. A., Goodyear, R., Hatcher, R., Kaslow, N. J., Leventhal, G.,… Grus, C. (2004). Defining competencies in psychology supervision: A consensus statement. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60(7), 771–785.
Goodyear, R. K. (2007). Toward an effective signature pedagogy for psychology: Comments supporting the case for competent supervisors (pp. 273–373). In J. E. Barnett, J. A. E. Cornish, R. K. Goodyear, & J. W. Lichtenberg, Commentaries on the ethical and effective practice of clinical supervision, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38(3), 268-275.
Johnson, W. B. (2007). Transformational supervision: When supervisors mentor. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38(3), 259–267.
Johnson, W. B., Skinner, C. J., & Kaslow, N. J. (2014). Relational mentoring in clinical supervision: The transformational supervisor. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 70(11), 1073–108
Ladany, N. (2014). The ingredients of supervisor failure. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 70(11), 1094–1103.
Ladany, N., Mori, Y., & Mehr, K. E. (2013). Effective and ineffective supervision. The Counseling Psychologist, 41(1), 28–47.
Maples, J. L., & Walker, R. L. (2014). Consolidation rather than termination: Rethinking how psychologists label and conceptualize the final phase of psychological treatment. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 45(2), 104–110.
Thomas, J. T. (2007). Informed consent through contracting for supervision: Minimizing risks, enhancing benefits. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38(3), 221–231.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
He maintains a part-time private practice in Towson, Maryland and has been in practice over 30 years. He is a past Chair of the Ethics Committees of the American Psychological Association, the American Board of Professional Psychology, and the Maryland Psychological Association. His scholarship and the presentations he regularly gives focus on ethics, legal, and professional practice issues for health service professionals.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barnett, J.E. Becoming a Clinical Supervisor: Key Ethics Issues and Recommendations. J Health Serv Psychol 43, 10–18 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544644
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544644