Supervision can be part of a role without everyone agreeing on what it includes. How do you get help between meetings? Who provides backup? What happens when a clinical concern is also a management issue? Use these questions to make the arrangement clear before joining a practice or while reviewing the support already in place.
Use this checklist before joining—or while reviewing—a practice
Purpose and authority
- What do you need this supervision to help you do?
- Is it required for licensure, organizational quality, specialty development, or another purpose?
- Which board, profession, payer, employer, or accreditation requirements apply?
- Who is responsible for confirming that the arrangement meets current jurisdiction rules?
Supervisor competence and fit
- What training and experience does the supervisor have in the work you will bring to supervision?
- Which populations, modalities, or risk areas require another consultant or referral?
- How are cultural context, power, identity, and difference addressed?
- What happens when the supervisee and supervisor disagree about clinical judgment?
Access and escalation
- How often is scheduled supervision available?
- How can a supervisee get clinical consultation when the question cannot wait for the next meeting?
- Who provides backup when the supervisor is unavailable?
- Which situations require immediate escalation, and where are those thresholds documented?
Feedback and development
- How will you agree on learning goals and check progress?
- What will feedback draw on: discussion, records, direct observation, recordings with appropriate authorization, outcomes, or other methods?
- How are strengths, concerns, remediation, and progress communicated?
- Can the supervisee raise concerns about the supervision relationship through another route?
Documentation and confidentiality
- What is documented, by whom, and where?
- What information may be shared with practice leadership, boards, training programs, or other parties?
- What limits of confidentiality are explained before supervision begins?
- How are client privacy and permissions protected in consultation materials?
Supervision versus management
- Which conversations concern clinical competence and client care?
- Which concern job performance, scheduling, productivity, conduct, or organizational policy?
- When one person is both supervisor and manager, how will you make clear which role they are speaking from?
- Is there another safe route for employment concerns or supervisor conflict?
Record the arrangement
Put the agreed answers in one place so you can both return to them. It should be easy to find the arrangement without piecing it together from conversations and onboarding documents:
| Item | Agreed arrangement |
|---|---|
| Purpose of supervision | |
| Named supervisor and qualifications | |
| Meeting frequency and access between meetings | |
| Backup and escalation route | |
| Feedback and documentation process | |
| Management boundary | |
| Person responsible for checking current requirements |
Evidence note
APA’s 2025 Guidelines for Clinical Supervision in Health Service Psychology frame supervision through competence development and protection of clients, the public, and supervisees. The guidelines are relevant evidence, but they do not replace profession- and jurisdiction-specific requirements for counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, or other disciplines.
Source
- American Psychological Association: Guidelines for Clinical Supervision in Health Service Psychology
Completion state
Before you finish, record the purpose, supervisor, support route, feedback process, documentation, and management boundary. Name the person who will check the applicable requirements. If an answer is still assumed, leave it as an open question to resolve.
Completion ledger
Close the guide with an accountable record.
- Decision or next step
- Record the action selected through the practice’s reviewed process.
- Decision owner
- Name the person or role accountable for the next action.
- Review date
- Set the date when the record or policy must be checked again.
This guide does not collect or store practice information.
Ready for the practice record