Ethics of Counseling Supervision

Counseling supervision is critical to the integrity of the counseling profession. This chapter provides behavioral guidance for counseling supervisors and their supervisees to manage an array of legal, ethical, and professional issues that may occur when engaging in clinical supervision. It analyzes common ethical tensions undergirding the professional practice of clinical supervision. The chapter helps the reader to formulate strategies for ethical decision making to protect the welfare of clients, while also supporting the development and performance of supervisees and understand the rights and responsibilities of multiple stakeholders, including but not limited to the supervisor, supervisee, clients, agencies, and the counseling profession. Monitoring client safety and welfare, supervisors are expected to balance the roles of mentor and teacher with that of evaluator and gatekeeper as their supervisees learn to practice as professional counselors.