Clinical Supervision Guides›Free Supervision Toolkit›Session Notes Template
Last updated: November 4, 2026
A supervision note is a short record of what happened in a supervision session: the cases discussed, the records and recordings reviewed, any risk or legal question, the guidance you gave, the skill you practiced and what happens next. The template below pairs a seven-item agenda for the start of each session with a one-page note, and a filled example follows it. Both are free to copy, print and adapt.
The template comes from the Sentio MFT program's free clinical supervision toolkit, which holds the rest of the forms a California supervisor keeps.
This is an optional aid from the Sentio MFT program's clinical supervision toolkit. This is not a BBS form.
Agenda (set in the first five minutes)
- Urgent items since the last session: risk, possible mandated reports, crises.
- Follow-up from the last session.
- Cases for today, starting with the supervisee's questions.
- Recording or observation review.
- Skill practice.
- Goals from the supervisory plan touched today.
- Administrative items: weekly log signed, documents due.
Session note
| Item | What to record |
|---|---|
| Supervisee | |
| Date, start and end time | |
| Format | Individual / Triadic / Group |
| Mode | In person / Videoconference |
| Work setting | |
| Cases discussed (client code and reason) | |
| Records reviewed | Progress notes / Process notes / Treatment plans / Other: |
| Recording or live observation | Yes, with client's written consent on file / No |
| Risk and safety | Issues raised, actions agreed, follow-up date |
| Law and ethics | For example a mandated report, consent, confidentiality or scope of practice |
| Guidance given | Assessment and diagnosis; treatment plan; interventions |
| Skill practiced | Skill, number of rehearsals, feedback given |
| Plan goals addressed | Goal numbers from the supervisory plan |
| Supervision dynamics | Anything in the supervisory relationship, or in the supervisee's reactions to clients, that needs follow-up |
| Follow-up | What, who, by when |
| Weekly log signed this week | Yes / No |
| Supervisor initials |
Identify clients by code or initials only. Write the note as you would a clinical record: the facts, the guidance you gave and the actions agreed.
What Does a Completed Supervision Note Look Like?
The example below records a one-hour individual session with an associate at a community agency. The client details are invented. A note this length takes about five minutes to write if you fill it in before the next appointment.
| Item | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Supervisee | J.R., AMFT |
| Date, start and end time | November 2, 2026, 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. |
| Format and mode | Individual; videoconference |
| Work setting | Community agency, outpatient program |
| Cases discussed | Client 14 (couple, escalating conflict at session 3); Client 22 (adolescent, new passive suicidal ideation reported at intake) |
| Records reviewed | Progress notes for Clients 14 and 22; treatment plan for Client 14 |
| Recording or live observation | Yes: eight minutes of the Client 14 session, written consent on file |
| Risk and safety | Client 22: structured risk assessment completed at intake, no plan or intent, safety plan written with the parent present. Agreed: repeat the risk screen at each session for four weeks and call me the same day if risk rises. |
| Law and ethics | Reviewed what to share with the parent of a minor client and what stays confidential. |
| Guidance given | Client 14: slow the session down when partners interrupt; reflect each partner's emotion before returning to the content. Treatment plan goal 2 rewritten in measurable terms. |
| Skill practiced | Interrupting escalation in a conjoint session; four rehearsals from the recording; feedback on tone and timing |
| Plan goals addressed | Goals 3 (couples work) and 5 (risk) |
| Supervision dynamics | Supervisee said the couple's arguing reminds her of her own family; we agreed to return to this next week. |
| Follow-up | Supervisee: revised treatment plan by Friday; bring the next Client 14 recording. Supervisor: send the risk screen used at the agency. |
| Weekly log signed this week | Yes |
| Supervisor initials | A.B. |
What Should a Supervision Note Record in California?
California does not supply a supervision note form, but its definition of supervision tells you what the note should show. Supervision includes ensuring compliance with the laws and regulations, monitoring assessment, diagnosis and treatment decisions with regular feedback, reviewing progress notes, process notes and other treatment records, and directly observing the supervisee's work or reviewing audio or video recordings, with the client's written consent (BPC 4980.43.1). Consultation or peer discussion does not count as supervision. A note that records which records you reviewed, what you observed and what guidance you gave documents each of those parts.
The note is also the evidence for the assessment California requires at least once a year and when supervision ends, in which you describe the supervisee's strengths and limitations and give them a copy (16 CCR 1833.1(a)(9)). Notes that name the skill practiced and the plan goals addressed make that assessment a matter of reading back through the year. Our supervisee evaluation form is built to draw on them.
The note is your record, separate from the Board's forms. The supervisee's weekly log, which you sign every week, records the hours, and the BBS supervision forms cover the agreement and the final verification. Our Clinical Supervision Guides set out each duty the note documents.
Keep reading
Clinical Supervision Log Template, a running record of every session with each supervisee and the deadlines you track
Clinical Supervision Goals: Examples and a Worksheet, the supervisory plan the note's goal numbers refer to
Supervisee Evaluation Form, the yearly and final assessment the notes support
Your First Supervisee, what to do before and after a new supervisee starts
Frequently Asked Questions
Does California require clinical supervisors to keep supervision notes?
California supplies no supervision note form. It defines what supervision includes, such as monitoring treatment decisions, reviewing records and reviewing recordings with written client consent, and it requires a yearly and final assessment of the supervisee. Session notes are the practical way to document both.
What should a clinical supervision note include?
The supervisee, date and length, format and mode, work setting, cases discussed by client code, records reviewed, any recording or observation, risk and legal issues, the guidance given, the skill practiced, the plan goals addressed and the follow-up agreed.
Should supervision notes name clients?
No. Identify clients by code or initials. The note records your supervision of the supervisee, and the client's own record stays with the supervisee's employer.
How long should I keep supervision notes?
California requires supervisors to keep the records showing they met the supervisor qualifications for seven years after supervision ends. For session notes, follow your employer's record policy; keeping them for the same seven years is a sensible default.
References
American Psychological Association. (2025). Guidelines for clinical supervision in health service psychology. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/guidelines-supervision.pdf
California Business and Professions Code § 4980.43.1. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=4980.43.1
Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 1833.1. https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I018363124C8211EC89E5000D3A7C4BC3
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (n.d.). Supervisor resources. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://www.bbs.ca.gov/licensees/supervisor.html
