Clinical Supervision Guides›Your First Supervisee
Last updated: October 2026
A first supervisee arrives with deadlines attached. Some fall before the first session, several fall in the first 60 days, and one, the weekly log, recurs every week for as long as you supervise, and missing one can cost the supervisee hours of experience. If you have not yet confirmed that you qualify to supervise, How to Become a Clinical Supervisor in California covers eligibility and training, and Should You Become a Clinical Supervisor? covers the decision itself.
What Should You Do Before Your First Supervisee Starts?
Start with your own obligations. If this is the first time you supervise in California, the Board must receive your Supervisor Self-Assessment Report within 60 days of the day you begin. You also need 15 hours of supervision training, taken in the two years before you begin (four years for graduate coursework) or within 60 days after, unless you are a psychologist, a psychiatrist or the holder of an approved supervisor credential from AAMFT, ABECSW, CAMFT or CCE. BBS Supervision Forms for California Supervisors explains the report, and California Supervisor CE Requirements covers the six hours of supervision training that follow in each renewal period.
Then confirm that the supervisee's hours can count. An associate must hold an active registration to earn postdegree hours, which you can check in the Department of Consumer Affairs license search. A recent graduate waiting for registration can count hours only under the 90-day rule: the Board must receive the registration application within 90 days of the degree award date, and the applicant must keep a copy of the employer's Live Scan request form, from whose date the hours count (Board FAQ for supervisors, question 24). A trainee must be enrolled in a practicum course, apart from one narrow exception the Board describes in its practicum publication, and must work in a setting their school has approved in a written agreement.
The setting comes next. Only an associate with an active registration can work in a private practice or professional corporation, so trainees and 90-day-rule applicants cannot; every supervisee must be a W-2 employee or a volunteer, never an independent contractor; and an associate in a private practice needs a supervisor who is employed or contracted by the practice or owns it (BPC 4980.43.3 and 4980.43.4). If you are not employed by the supervisee's employer, or you volunteer there, you and the employer must sign a written oversight agreement before supervision begins. In a nonexempt setting, count your current supervisees, because you may act as individual or triadic supervisor for no more than six people at a time across all your nonexempt settings (group and triadic rules).
Two more items must be ready before the first session. California requires written procedures for reaching you, or an on-call alternate supervisor in your absence, during crises and emergencies, given to the supervisee before supervision begins (16 CCR 1833.1(a)(10)); the emergency procedures template in our toolkit covers each element. You must also collect the name, address and phone number of the supervisee's most recent supervisor and employer (16 CCR 1833.1(c)). Before you start, ask your malpractice insurer whether your policy covers supervision.
What Happens in the First Supervision Session?
The first session sets expectations on both sides. A useful order is introductions and experience; how supervision will run, including frequency, format, what to bring and how recordings will be handled; the emergency procedures; the goals the supervisee brings; and the schedule for the weeks ahead. A written statement of how supervision will work, such as the disclosure statement in our toolkit, gives the supervisee the same information in writing.
The Board's tips for supervisors taking on a new supervisee add three suggestions for the start. They name one or more initial in-person meetings, to build the relationship, develop the Supervision Agreement and set technology protocols, as best practice. They suggest matching the approach to the supervisee's training, experience and proficiency, with live observation of sessions useful for less experienced supervisees and regular review of recordings often enough for more experienced ones. They also recommend discussing openly the factors that may affect supervision, such as culture, race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, academic background, sexual orientation and disability. If you will supervise by videoconference, use the early sessions to judge whether it suits the supervisee: their abilities, both of your preferences, and the privacy of each location.
What Must Be Done in the First 60 Days?
Within 60 days of the start of supervision, you and the supervisee sign the Supervision Agreement, including a supervisory plan of goals and objectives that you develop together (16 CCR 1833(c)). The Board's tips treat this period as the time to get to know the supervisee, including their background, interests and the strengths and weaknesses they see in themselves, and they ask for goals that are both meaningful and measurable. Goals written against the duties the agreement lists, such as assessment, diagnosis and treatment decisions, work with the setting's clientele, and clinical dynamics, make the yearly assessment easier; the goals worksheet in our toolkit has examples.
The videoconference assessment falls in the same window: meet with the supervisee within 60 days to assess whether supervision by videoconference is appropriate, document the result, and do not use it if it is not (BPC 4980.43.2(d)). Through December 31, 2026, the statute requires this meeting for every supervisee, counted from the start of supervision; from January 1, 2027, it applies only when supervision is conducted by videoconference, counted from the start of that supervision. If this is the first time you supervise in California, your own Self-Assessment Report and any remaining training also come due within these 60 days.
How Should You Run Weekly Supervision?
The law sets the minimum: an associate needs at least one unit of supervision in every week and setting in which experience is credited, and one more in any setting where they provide more than 10 hours of direct clinical counseling that week. A unit is one hour of individual or triadic supervision or two hours of group supervision, and supervision must fall in the same week as the hours claimed (BPC 4980.43.2). You sign the weekly log every week, and the supervisee may not sign it for you.
Within that floor, a predictable structure makes each hour count. Start with anything urgent, such as risk or a possible mandated report; move to the cases the supervisee chose, presented in a standard format such as the case presentation format; review a few minutes of recording, with each client's written consent; and finish by rehearsing one skill the recording showed the supervisee needs. Rehearsal is the core of deliberate practice supervision, in which the supervisee practices a specific response several times with feedback; the Sentio MFT program teaches this approach in its free supervisor training, given in exchange for supervising two Sentio Counseling Center trainees, and publishes free deliberate practice exercises you can use in sessions.
Keep a short note of each session: the cases discussed, what you reviewed, the guidance you gave and the follow-up agreed. The session note template covers each item, and it is the record you will draw on when you write the yearly assessment.
How Do You Give Feedback and Evaluate a New Supervisee?
Feedback is part of the legal definition of supervision, which includes monitoring and evaluating the supervisee's assessment, diagnosis and treatment decisions and providing regular feedback (BPC 4980.43.1(b)). In practice that means some feedback in every session, tied to what you saw in a note or a recording.
At least once a year, and when supervision ends, you complete an assessment of the supervisee's ongoing strengths and limitations and give them a copy (16 CCR 1833.1(a)(9)). Base it on the goals in the supervisory plan and on the evidence in your session notes; the evaluation forms in our toolkit include a rating guide and a form for the supervisee's feedback on your supervision. If a serious concern about the supervisee's work arises, raise it promptly, describe it in writing with specific examples, and agree on a plan. The American Psychological Association's 2025 supervision guidelines ask supervisors to document such concerns in writing, with dates and specific behaviors, and to develop a plan to remediate them that includes timelines.
Which Mistakes Can Cost a Supervisee Hours?
The Board's tips for new supervisors list the avoidable errors that cost supervisees hours:
- The supervisor does not meet the licensure and experience qualifications to supervise, or lets their license lapse, which can happen by falling behind on the continuing education needed to renew it. Hours gained while the supervisor's license is lapsed do not count.
- The Supervision Agreement is signed after the 60 days. The Board's FAQ says to sign it immediately, and a letter of explanation may be required at licensure.
- Weekly logs go unsigned. Only the supervisor can sign them.
- A supervisor who is not employed by the supervisee's employer starts without a written oversight agreement.
- A week passes without the supervision needed for that week's hours to count.
- The supervisee is treated as an independent contractor rather than as a W-2 employee or volunteer.
The Board's FAQ for supervisors adds two more: supervision by telephone alone does not count, and a group may not exceed eight supervisees. Each of these errors is preventable with a calendar and the forms in BBS Supervision Forms for California Supervisors. Two lapses fall on the supervisor alone. The Board will not deny a supervisee's hours because the supervisor missed the supervision training or continuing professional development the regulations require (16 CCR 1834(e)), and a late Self-Assessment Report exposes the supervisor to discipline without penalizing the supervisee.
Keep reading
BBS Supervision Forms for California Supervisors, every form a supervisor signs and when.
Free Clinical Supervision Toolkit, editable notes, logs, goals and evaluations.
How to Run Group Supervision, a session structure, check-in questions and activities that build skill.
Free Deliberate Practice Supervisor Training, the Sentio MFT program's training, given in exchange for supervising two of its counseling center trainees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do before my first supervision session?
Confirm the supervisee's registration or trainee status and that the work setting allows their hours to count, sign a written oversight agreement with the employer if you are not employed there or you volunteer, give the supervisee written emergency procedures, and collect the name, address and phone number of their most recent supervisor and employer.
How soon must the Supervision Agreement be signed?
Within 60 days of the start of supervision. If supervision will last less than 60 days, the Board's FAQ says to sign it before supervision ends.
Do I need to meet a new supervisee in person?
The law does not require it. Supervision by two-way, real-time videoconference counts, provided the supervisor assesses within the first 60 days whether it is appropriate and documents the result, and the Board's tips for new supervisors describe one or more in-person meetings at the start as best practice.
How often should I meet with my supervisee?
Every week. An associate needs at least one hour of individual or triadic supervision, or two hours of group supervision, in each week and setting where experience is credited, and a second unit in any setting where they provide more than 10 hours of direct counseling that week.
Can I review recordings of my supervisee's sessions?
Yes, with each client's written consent. California's definition of supervision includes direct observation or review of audio or video recordings, as much as the supervisor judges appropriate.
What if my supervisee's weekly log looks wrong?
You are not required to sign for hours you believe are incorrect, and you can ask the supervisee to correct them and keep a record of the request. Before you stop signing for further hours, give at least one week's written notice; without that notice, you must sign for hours the supervisee gained in good faith while you provided the required supervision.
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. (n.d.). Tips for supervisors when taking on a new supervisee (PDE_24-201). https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/publications/tips_for_supervisors.pdf
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
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 § 4980.43.1. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=4980.43.1
California Business and Professions Code § 4980.43.2. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=4980.43.2
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. https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I01777C334C8211EC89E5000D3A7C4BC3
Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 1833.1. https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I018363124C8211EC89E5000D3A7C4BC3
Cal. Code Regs. tit. 16, § 1834. https://govt.westlaw.com/calregs/Document/I0192CC624C8211EC89E5000D3A7C4BC3
Senate Bill 1445, Chapter 237, Statutes of 2026 (Cal. 2026). https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1445
