Clinical Supervision: The Foundational Ingredient

Presented by: Dr. Carol Falender

Clinical Supervision provides the foundation for clinical practice.  Although it is assumed that anyone who is a supervisor is competent—both as a psychologist and as a clinical supervisor (Fouad et al., 2009)—that is not always the case in practice. Supervision occurs for assessment, treatment, and other activities of the psychologist; and it occurs across varied settings. However, ironically, very minimal attention has been given to defining, assessing, or evaluating supervisor competence (Bernard & Goodyear, 2019; Falender & Shafranske, 2021) or to determining requisite training for assuming the role of clinical supervisor. Although supervisors are responsible for ensuring the protection of the public, this duty cannot be achieved without supervisor competence. It requires knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the provision of supervision, and receiving ongoing training specific to clinical practice and its supervision (Falender et al., 2013; Milne & Reiser, 2023). Further, education and training in health service psychology increasingly employs a competency-based approach to the definition, assessment, and evaluation of student learning outcomes. Both the competence of supervisors and the application of a competency-based approach to supervision are enhanced by guidelines (APA, 2025) that assist supervisors in the provision of high-quality supervision. This presentation focuses on the state of clinical supervision and recommendations for the future.