Clinical Supervision Guides›Free Supervision Toolkit›Supervision Contract
Last updated: November 4, 2026
A clinical supervision contract is a written agreement between a supervisor, a supervisee and usually the employer that sets the terms of supervision: who the parties are, the schedule and format, fees and cancellations, each party's responsibilities, how evaluation works, records and recordings, insurance and how the contract ends. The template below has sixteen clauses with example wording and works for private practice and agency supervision. A California addendum follows it for supervisees registered with or training toward registration with the Board of Behavioral Sciences.
The contract is part of the Sentio MFT program's free clinical supervision toolkit. Fill in the brackets and delete what does not apply.
This is an optional aid from the Sentio MFT program's clinical supervision toolkit. This is not a BBS form.
Clinical supervision contract
| Clause | What to write (example wording in italics) |
|---|---|
| 1. Parties | Supervisor: name, license type and number. Supervisee: name, status (MFT trainee, AMFT, ASW or APCC) and registration number. Employer: name and address of each work setting. Private practice: the practice is the employer. Agency: name the program and the supervisee's manager. |
| 2. Purpose and scope | This contract sets the terms of clinical supervision of the supervisee's work at [setting]. Supervision covers the clinical services the supervisee provides there and does not include therapy for the supervisee. |
| 3. Start date and term | Start date; review date; whether the contract renews automatically each year. |
| 4. Format and schedule | Individual, triadic or group; day, time and length; in person or by videoconference; how sessions missed by either person are made up. We will meet at least as often as California requires for the hours the supervisee claims each week. |
| 5. Fees and payment | Who pays (the employer, the supervisee or both); the rate for individual, triadic and group supervision; when invoices are sent and paid; how fee changes are notified. Agency: replace with "Supervision is provided as part of the supervisor's employment; no fee is charged to the supervisee." |
| 6. Cancellation | Notice required to cancel or reschedule; whether a late cancellation is charged; how a missed week affects the supervisee's hours. |
| 7. Supervisor responsibilities | Provide supervision of the kind and amount the law requires; review notes, records and recordings; give regular feedback; sign the supervisee's weekly log every week for hours earned under my supervision; keep my license current and tell the supervisee at once of any change that affects my ability to supervise. |
| 8. Supervisee responsibilities | Prepare for each session; bring cases, notes and recordings; follow the employer's policies and the law; tell me promptly about risk, possible mandated reports, complaints and changes in registration, employment or other supervisors; keep the weekly log current. |
| 9. Employer responsibilities | Access for the supervisor to clinical records; no interference with the supervisor's clinical guidance; a private space and an approved platform for supervision; notice to the supervisor of any change in the supervisee's duties or employment. |
| 10. Evaluation and due process | The supervisor gives feedback in every session and a written assessment at least once a year and when supervision ends, with a copy to the supervisee. A concern about the supervisee's work is raised promptly, described in writing with examples, and addressed with a written plan and review dates before any decision to end supervision. |
| 11. Confidentiality | What stays between supervisor and supervisee; what is shared with the employer or training program; the legal limits (risk to a client or others, mandated reports, Board requests for records). |
| 12. Records and recordings | Where supervision notes are kept and for how long; how session recordings are made, shared, stored and deleted; the written client consent required for every recording. |
| 13. Emergencies | Reference to the written emergency procedures, which the supervisee receives before supervision begins. |
| 14. Insurance | The professional liability insurance each person carries and whether the policy covers supervision. |
| 15. Ending the contract | Either party may end this contract with [__] days' written notice. The supervisor gives at least one week's written notice before refusing to sign for further hours, completes a final assessment and signs the Experience Verification for the hours completed. |
| 16. Disagreements | How a disagreement is raised and resolved, and who outside the relationship can help (the employer or program contact). |
| Signatures | Supervisor, supervisee and employer representative, with dates. |
California addendum (attach when the supervisee is an MFT trainee, AMFT, ASW or APCC)
| Item | Term |
|---|---|
| A1. Supervision Agreement | The supervisor and supervisee sign the Board's Supervision Agreement, with its supervisory plan, within 60 days of the start of supervision. Date signed: ____ |
| A2. Written oversight agreement | Required when the supervisor is not employed by the supervisee's employer or is a volunteer there. Signed by the supervisor and the employer before supervision begins. Required: Yes / No. Date signed: ____ |
| A3. Employment status | The supervisee works as an employee or a volunteer of the employer, not as an independent contractor. |
| A4. Private practice | A trainee may not work in a private practice or professional corporation. An associate in one is supervised by a person employed or contracted by the employer, or by an owner, under the conditions in BPC 4980.43.4. |
| A5. Supervisor qualifications | The supervisor holds a current, active license that is not suspended or on probation, has met, or will meet within the Board's deadlines, the training requirement and the one-time Supervisor Self-Assessment Report, and completes six hours of continuing professional development in supervision each renewal period where it applies. |
| A6. Weekly supervision and the weekly log | The supervisee receives at least the weekly direct supervisor contact the law requires for each work setting, and the supervisor signs the supervisee's weekly log every week. |
| A7. Videoconference assessment | Through December 31, 2026: held within 60 days of the start of supervision. From January 1, 2027: held within 60 days of the start of any supervision conducted by videoconference. Date held: ____ |
| A8. Assessment of strengths and limitations | At least once a year and when supervision ends, with a copy to the supervisee. |
| A9. Emergency procedures | Written procedures for reaching the supervisor or an alternate on-call supervisor, given before supervision begins. Date given: ____ |
| A10. Client disclosure | The supervisee tells each client, before services begin, what California requires about the supervisee's status, supervision and employer. Recordings and observation require each client's written consent. |
| A11. Notice before stopping signing | The supervisor gives at least one week's written notice before refusing to sign for further hours. |
| A12. End of supervision | The supervisor signs the Experience Verification for the hours completed and gives the supervisee the signed written oversight agreement, if there is one. |
How Does the Contract Differ for Private Practice and Agency Supervision?
The clauses are the same; four of them change. In a private practice, the practice is the employer, the supervisee often pays some or all of the fee, and clauses 5 and 6 carry the business terms. In an agency, supervision is usually part of the supervisor's job, so clause 5 says no fee is charged, and clause 9 names the program manager who handles schedule and caseload changes. Where the supervisor is an outside contractor or a volunteer, clause 9 matters most: it is where the employer agrees to give the supervisor access to records and not to interfere with clinical guidance, which the California written oversight agreement also requires. Clause 14 differs everywhere, because who insures what depends on who employs whom; our guide to ethics and liability in clinical supervision explains the exposure, and our page on what clinical supervisors earn and charge gives California rates for clause 5.
What Does California Require That a Contract Must Not Contradict?
A private contract cannot replace the Board's documents, and it should not contradict them. The Supervision Agreement, signed within 60 days of the start of supervision, records the legal affirmations and the supervisory plan; the written oversight agreement, signed before supervision begins, is required when the supervisor is not employed by the supervisee's employer or volunteers there (BPC 4980.43.4). Trainees, associates and applicants work only as employees or volunteers, never as independent contractors, and a trainee may not work in a private practice or professional corporation (BPC 4980.43.3). The addendum restates those terms and the supervisor's other duties under 16 CCR 1833.1, so the contract and the Board's forms say the same thing.
Three duties are easy to miss in a contract's termination clause: at least one week's written notice before a supervisor stops signing for further hours, the final assessment of strengths and limitations with a copy to the supervisee, and the Experience Verification for the hours completed (16 CCR 1833.1(a)(9) and (b); 16 CCR 1833(e)). The BBS supervision forms guide covers each Board form, and our Clinical Supervision Guides cover the business questions the contract answers.
Do You Need a Contract and a Disclosure Statement?
Often both. The contract sets the business terms between supervisor, supervisee and employer. The supervision disclosure statement tells the supervisee how you supervise: your approach, how evaluation and confidentiality work and what happens if concerns arise. A supervisor employed by an agency that sets the business terms may need only the statement; a supervisor paid by the supervisee in a private practice needs both, or one document that combines them.
Keep reading
Supervision Disclosure Statement Template, how you supervise, in a statement for the supervisee
What Clinical Supervisors Earn and Charge in California, rates for the fee clause
Ethics and Liability in Clinical Supervision, dual relationships, gatekeeping and legal exposure
BBS Supervision Forms for California Supervisors, the Supervision Agreement and written oversight agreement the addendum refers to
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a clinical supervision contract include?
The parties, purpose, term, format and schedule, fees and payment, cancellation, the supervisor's, supervisee's and employer's responsibilities, evaluation and due process, confidentiality, records and recordings, emergencies, insurance, how the contract ends, how disagreements are resolved, and signatures.
Does a supervision contract replace the BBS Supervision Agreement?
No. The Supervision Agreement is the Board's form, signed within 60 days of the start of supervision. A private contract sets the business terms and should match what the Board's forms say.
Can an associate be an independent contractor in a supervision arrangement?
No. In California, trainees, associates and applicants work only as employees or volunteers, never as independent contractors.
When is a written oversight agreement needed?
When the supervisor is not employed by the supervisee's employer or is a volunteer there. The supervisor and the employer sign it before supervision begins.
References
American Psychological Association. (2025). Guidelines for clinical supervision in health service psychology. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/guidelines-supervision.pdf
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2026). Supervision agreement (DCA BBS 37M-300, rev. 05/2026). https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/forms/supervision_agreement.pdf
California Business and Professions Code § 4980.43.3. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=4980.43.3
California Business and Professions Code § 4980.43.4. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=4980.43.4
Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 1833.1. https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I018363124C8211EC89E5000D3A7C4BC3
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2026). Important answers to frequently asked questions for supervisors (new 02/2026). https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/publications/faqs_for_supervisors.pdf
