Section F Supervision, Training, and Teaching

Introduction

• Counselors aspire to foster meaningful and respectful professional relationships and to maintain appropriate boundaries with supervisees and students.
• Counselors have theoretical and pedagogical foundations for their work and aim to be fair, accurate, and honest in their assessments of counselors-in-training.

F.1. Counselor Supervision and Client Welfare

F.1.a. Client Welfare

• A primary obligation of counseling supervisors is to monitor the services provided by other counselors or counselors-in-training. Counseling supervisors monitor client welfare and supervisee clinical performance and professional development.
• To fulfill these obligations, supervisors meet regularly with supervisees to review case notes, samples of clinical work, or live observations. Supervisees have a responsibility to understand and follow the ACA Code of Ethics.(See A.2.b.)

F.1.b. Counselor Credentials

• Counseling supervisors work to ensure that clients are aware of the qualifications of the supervisees who render services to the clients.

F.1. Counselor Supervision and Client Welfare

F.1.c. Informed Consent and Client Rights

• Supervisors make supervisees aware of client rights including the protection of client privacy and confidentiality in the counseling relationship.
• Supervisees provide clients with professional disclosure information and inform them of how the supervision process influences the limits of confidentiality.
• Supervisees make clients aware of who will have access to records of the counseling relationship and how these records will be used.(See A.2.b., B.1.d.)

F.2. Counselor Supervision Competence

F.2.a. Supervisor Preparation

• Prior to offering clinical supervision services, counselors are trained in supervision methods and techniques.
• Counselors who offer clinical supervision services regularly pursue continuing education activities including both counseling and supervision topics and skills.

(See C.2.a., C.2.f.)

F.2.b. Multicultural Issues/Diversity in Supervision

• Counseling supervisors are aware of and address the role of multiculturalism/diversity in the supervisory relationship.

F.3.a. Relationship Boundaries With Supervisees

• Counseling supervisors clearly define and maintain ethical professional, personal, and social relationships with their supervisees.
• Counseling supervisors avoid nonprofessional relationships with current supervisees.
• If supervisors must assume other professional roles (e.g., clinical and administrative supervisor, instructor) with supervisees, they work to minimize potential conflicts and explain to supervisees the expectations and responsibilities associated with each role.
• They do not engage in any form of nonprofessional interaction that may compromise the supervisory relationship

F.3.b. Sexual Relationships

• Sexual or romantic interactions or relationships with current supervisees are prohibited.

F.3.c. Sexual Harassment

• Counseling supervisors do not condone or subject supervisees to sexual harassment. (See C.6.a.)

F.3.d. Close Relatives and Friends

• Counseling supervisors avoid accepting close relatives, romantic partners, or friends as supervisees.

F.3.e. Potentially Beneficial Relationships

• Counseling supervisors are aware of the power differential in their relationships with supervisees. If they believe nonprofessional relationships with a supervisee may be potentially beneficial to the supervisee, they take precautions similar to those taken by counselors when working with clients.
• Examples of potentially beneficial interactions or relationships include attending a formal ceremony; hospital visits; providing support during a stressful event; or mutual membership in a professional association, organization, or community.
• Counseling supervisors engage in open discussions with supervisees when they consider entering into relationships with them outside of their roles as clinical and/or administrative supervisors.
• Before engaging in nonprofessional relationships, supervisors discuss with supervisees and document the rationale for such interactions, potential benefits or drawbacks, and anticipated consequences for the supervisee.
• Supervisors clarify the specific nature and limitations of the additional role(s) they will have with the supervisee.

F.4.a. Informed Consent for Supervision

• Supervisors are responsible for incorporating into their supervision the principles of informed consent and participation.
• Supervisors inform supervisees of the policies and procedures to which they are to adhere and the mechanisms for due process appealof individual supervisory actions.

F.4.b. Emergencies and Absences

• Supervisors establish and communicate to supervisees procedures for contacting them or, in their absence, alternative on-call supervisors to assist in handling crises.

F.4.c. Standards for Supervisees

• Supervisors make their supervisees aware of professional and ethical standards and legal responsibilities.
• Supervisors of postdegree counselors encourage these counselors to adhere to professional standards of practice. (See C.1.)

F.4.d. Termination of the Supervisory Relationship

• Supervisors or supervisees have the right to terminate the supervisory relationship with adequate notice.Reasons for withdrawal are provided to the other party.
• When cultural, clinical, or professional issues are crucial to the viability of the supervisory relationship, both parties make efforts to resolve differences. When termination is warranted, supervisors make appropriate referrals to possible alternative supervisors.

F.5. Counseling Supervision Evaluation, Remediation, and Endorsement

F.5.a. Evaluation

• Supervisors document and provide supervisees with ongoing performance appraisal and evaluation feedback and schedule periodic formal evaluative sessions throughout the supervisory relationship.

F.5.b. Limitations

• Through ongoing evaluation and appraisal, supervisors are aware of the limitations of supervisees that might impede performance. Supervisors assist supervisees in securing remedial assistance when needed.
• They recommend dismissal from training programs, applied counseling settings, or state or voluntary professional credentialing processes when those supervisees are unable to provide competent professional services.
• Supervisors seek consultation and document their decisions to dismiss or refer supervisees for assistance. They ensure that supervisees are aware of options available to them to address such decisions. (See C.2.g.)

F.5. Counseling Supervision Evaluation, Remediation, and Endorsement

F.5.c. Counseling for Supervisees

• If supervisees request counseling, supervisors provide them with acceptable referrals.
• Counselors do not provide counseling services to supervisees.
• Supervisors address interpersonal competencies in terms of the impact of these issues on clients, the supervisory relationship, and professionalfunctioning.

(See F.3.a.)

F.5.d. Endorsement

• Supervisors endorse supervisees for certification, licensure, employment, or completion of an academic or training program only when they believe supervisees are qualified for the endorsement.
• Regardless of qualifications,supervisors do not endorse supervisees whom they believe to be impaired in any way that would interfere with the performance of the duties associated with the endorsement.

F.6. Responsibilities of Counselor Educators

F.6.a. Counselor Educators

• Counselor educators who are responsible for developing, implementing, and supervising educational programs are skilled as teachers and practitioners.
• They are knowledgeable regarding the ethical, legal, and regulatory aspects of the profession, are skilled in applying that knowledge, and make students and supervisees aware of their responsibilities.
• Counselor educators conduct counselor education and training programs in an ethical manner and serve as role models for professional behavior.

(See C.1., C.2.a., C.2.c.)

F.6. Responsibilities of Counselor Educators

F.6.b. Infusing Multicultural Issues/Diversity

• Counselor educators infuse material related to multicultluralism/diversity into all courses and workshops for the development of professional counselors.

F.6.c. Integration of Study and Practice

• Counselor educators establish education and training programs that integrate academic study and supervised practice.

F.6.d. Teaching Ethics

• Counselor educators make students and supervisees aware of the ethical responsibilities and standards of the profession and the ethical responsibilities of students to the profession. Counselor educators infuse ethical considerations throughout the curriculum.(See C.1.)

F.6. Responsibilities of Counselor Educators

F.6.e. Peer Relationships

• Counselor educators make every effort to ensure that the rights of peers are not compromised when students or supervisees lead counseling groups or provide clinical supervision.
• Counselor educators take steps to ensure that students and supervisees understand they have the same ethical obligations as counselor educators, trainers, and supervisors.

F.6.f. Innovative Theories and Techniques

• When counselor educators teach counseling techniques/procedures that are innovative, without an empirical foundation, or without a well-grounded theoretical foundation, they define the counseling techniques/procedures as “unproven” or “developing” and explain to students the potential risks and ethical considerations of using suchtechniques/procedures.

F.6. Responsibilities of Counselor Educators

F.6.g. Field Placements

• Counselor educators develop clear policies within their training programs regarding field placement and other clinical experiences.
• Counselor educators provide clearly stated roles and responsibilities for the student or supervisee, the site supervisor, and the program supervisor.
• They confirm that site supervisors are qualified to provide supervision and inform site supervisors of their professional and ethical responsibilities in this role.

F.6.h. Professional Disclosure

• Before initiating counseling services, counselors-in-training disclose their status as students and explain how this status affects the limits of confidentiality.
• Counselor educators ensure that the clients at field placements are aware of the services rendered and the qualifications of the students and supervisees rendering those services.
• Students and supervisees obtain client permission before they use any information concerning the counseling relationship in the training process.(See A.2.b.)

F.7.a. Orientation

• Counselor educators recognize that orientation is a developmental process that continues throughout the educational and clinical training of students.
• Counseling faculty provide prospective students with information about the counselor education program’s expectations:

1. the type and level of skill and knowledge acquisition required for successful completion of the training;

2. program training goals, objectives, and mission, and subject

matter to be covered;

3. bases for evaluation;

4. training components that encourage self-growth or self-disclosure as part of the training process;

5. the type of supervision settings and requirements of the sites for required clinical field experiences;

6. student and supervisee evaluation and dismissal policies and

procedures; and

7. up-to-date employment prospects for graduates.

F.7.b. Self-Growth Experiences

• Counselor education programs delineate requirements for self-disclosure or self-growth experiences in their admission and program materials.
• Counselor educators use professional judgment when designing training experiences they conduct that require student and supervisee selfgrowth or self-disclosure.
• Students and supervisees are made aware of the ramifications their self-disclosure may have when counselors whose primary role as teacher, trainer, or supervisor requires acting on ethical obligations to the profession.
• Evaluative components of experiential training experiences explicitly delineate predetermined academic standards that are separate and do not depend on the student’s level of self disclosure.
• Counselor educators may require trainees to seek professional help to address any personal concerns that may be affecting their competency.

F.8.a. Standards for Students

• Counselors-in-training have a responsibility to understand and follow the ACA Code of Ethics and adhere to applicable laws, regulatory policies, and rules and policies governing professional staff behavior at the agency or placement setting.
• Students have the same obligation to clients as those required of professional counselors.(See C.1., H.1.)

F.8.b. Impairment

• Counselors-in-training refrain from offering or providing counseling services when their physical, mental, or emotional problems are likely to harm a client or others.
• They are alert to the signs of impairment, seek assistance for problems, and notify their program supervisors when theyare aware that they are unable to effectively provide services.
• In addition, they seek appropriate professional services for themselves to remediate the problems that are interfering with their ability to provide services to others.

(See A.1., C.2.d., C.2.g.)

F.9. Evaluation and Remediation of Students

F.9.a. Evaluation

• Counselors clearly state to students, prior to and throughout the training program, the levels of competency expected, appraisal methods, and timing of evaluations for both didactic and clinical competencies.
• Counselor educators with ongoing performance appraisal and evaluation feedback throughout the training program.

F.9.b. Limitations

• Counselor educators, throughout ongoing evaluation and appraisal, are aware of and address the inability of some students to achieve counseling competencies that might impede performance. Counselor educators

1. assist students in securing remedial assistance when needed,

2. seek professional consultation and document their decision to dismiss or refer students for assistance, and

3. ensure that students have recourse in a timely manner to address decisions to require them to seek assistance or to dismiss them and provide students with due process according to institutional policies and procedures.(See C.2.g.)

F.9.c. Counseling for Students

• If students request counseling or if counseling services are required as part of a remediation process, counselor educators provide acceptable referrals.

F. 10. Roles and Relationships Between Counselor Educators and Students

F.10.a. Sexual or Romantic Relationships

• Sexual or romantic interactions or relationships with current students are prohibited.

F.10.b. Sexual Harassment

• Counselor educators do not condone or subject students to sexual harassment.

(See C.6.a.)

F.10.c. Relationships With Former Students

• Counselor educators are aware of the power differential in the relationship between faculty and students.
• Faculty members foster open discussions with former students when considering engaging in a social, sexual, or other intimate relationship.
• Faculty members discuss with the former student how their former relationship may affect the change in relationship.

F. 10. Roles and Relationships Between Counselor Educators and Students

F.10.d. Nonprofessional Relationships

• Counselor educators avoid nonprofessional or ongoing professional relationships with students in which there is a risk of potential harm to the student or that may compromise the training experience or grades assigned.
• In addition, counselor educators do not accept any form of professional services, fees, commissions, reimbursement, or remuneration from a site for student or supervisee placement.

F.10.e. Counseling Services

• Counselor educators do not serve as counselors to current students unless this is a brief role associated with a training experience.

F. 10. Roles and Relationships Between Counselor Educators and Students

F.10.f. Potentially Beneficial Relationships

• Counselor educators are aware of the power differential in the relationship between faculty and students.
• If they believe a nonprofessional relationship with a student may be potentially beneficial to the student, they take precautions similar to those taken by counselors when working with clients.
• Examples of potentially beneficial interactions or relationships include, but are not limited to, attendinga formal ceremony; hospital visits; providing support during a stressful event; or mutual membership in a professional association, organization, or community.
• Counselor educators engage in open discussions with students when they consider entering into relationships with students outside of their roles as teachers and supervisors.
• They discuss with students the rationale for such interactions, the potential benefits and drawbacks, and the anticipated consequences for the student.
• Educators clarify the specific nature and limitations of the additional role(s) they will have with the student prior to engaging in a nonprofessional relationship.
• Nonprofessional relationships with students should be time-limited and initiated with student consent.

F.11. Multicultural/Diversity Competence in Counselor Education and Training Programs

F.11.a. Faculty Diversity

• Counselor educators are committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty.

F.11.b. Student Diversity

• Counselor educators actively attempt to recruit and retain a diverse student body. Counselor educators demonstrate commitment to multicultural/diversity competence by recognizing and valuing diverse cultures and types of abilities students bring to the training experience.
• Counselor educators provide appropriate accommodations that enhance and support diverse student well-being and academic performance.

F.11.c. Multicultural/Diversity Competence

• Counselor educators actively infuse multicultural/diversity competency in their training and supervision practices.
• They actively train students to gain awareness, knowledge, and skills in the competencies of multicultural practice.
• Counselor educators include case examples, role-plays, discussion questions, and other classroom activities that promote and represent various cultural perspectives.