4.D.2
Supervisees' responsibilities to clients: consent, status and privacy
ASPPB's competency statement 4.D.2: Communicate with supervisees their responsibilities toward clients (e.g., informed consent, supervisory status)
Clients of a supervisee have the same rights as any client, plus the right to know who is responsible for their care. Supervisors make sure supervisees tell clients they are in training and supervised, give the supervisor's name, explain who will hear about or observe their sessions, obtain consent for recording and describe the limits of confidentiality. Supervisees present their credentials accurately and protect client information in supervision itself.
Key ideas
- Supervisory status
- APA Standard 10.01(c): when the therapist is a trainee and legal responsibility rests with the supervisor, the client is told, as part of informed consent, that the therapist is in training and supervised, and is given the supervisor's name.
- Recording and observation
- Standard 4.03 requires permission from all persons before their voices or images are recorded. Clients should know who will review recordings or observe sessions, for what purpose and how recordings are stored and destroyed.
- Limits of confidentiality
- Standard 4.02 requires discussing the limits of confidentiality at the outset, which for a trainee includes discussion of the case in supervision and any legally required disclosures.
- Accurate representation
- Supervisees describe their title, training and credentials accurately (Standard 5.01). Calling oneself a therapist or doctor when one is a student misleads clients about who is providing care.
- Consent across codes
- The CPA Code places informed consent and privacy under Principle I, Respect for the Dignity of Persons and Peoples, and accuracy and honesty under Principle III, Integrity in Relationships, so the duties hold in both countries.
Worked example
A practicum student at a university psychology clinic drafts the script for first sessions. The supervisor sometimes watches sessions live by video from another room, and the student's cases are discussed in a weekly team meeting.
- Check that the script says the student is a doctoral trainee under supervision and gives the supervisor's name and how the client can reach the supervisor.
- Make sure it tells clients that sessions may be observed live by the supervisor and discussed in a team meeting, and asks for their agreement.
- Add the limits of confidentiality, including legally required disclosures, in language the client can follow.
- Ask the student to rehearse the script and to note in each record that consent was obtained, then review a first session to confirm it is used.
Clients of a supervisee consent knowing who is treating them, who oversees the care and who will see or hear about it.
Check yourself
Which of the following belongs in the limits of confidentiality a practicum student discusses with a new client at the outset?
Sources
- APA (2002, with the 2010 and 2016 amendments), Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, Standard 10.01(c), Informed Consent to Therapy; Standard 4.02, Discussing the Limits of Confidentiality; Standard 4.03, Recording; Standard 5.01, Avoidance of False or Deceptive Statements
- Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists, Fourth Edition (CPA, 2017), Principle I, Respect for the Dignity of Persons and Peoples (informed consent, privacy and confidentiality); Principle III, Integrity in Relationships (accuracy and honesty)
- American Psychological Association (2015), Guidelines for clinical supervision in health service psychology, American Psychologist, 70(1), 33-46 (PMID 25581007), revised in 2025 into six domains, Ethical, legal and regulatory considerations: informing clients of supervision
- Grus, Falender, Goodyear, Tao and Jordan (2026), The revised American Psychological Association guidelines for clinical supervision: Rationale, revisions, and implications for practice and scholarship, Psychotherapy, advance online publication (PMID 42821409), Abstract: 2025 Domain F, Ethical, Legal, and Regulatory Considerations