Free California Clinical Supervision Guides, Rules, and Templates
Everything you need to sign the right BBS forms plan your first supervisee meet the six-hour CE rule decide whether to supervise run group supervision sign the right BBS forms
Last verified: October 27, 2026
The 2026 Guide
How to Become a Clinical Supervisor in California
Who can supervise, the 15-hour training, your first filing with the Board, and what the minimum leaves out.
Start the guide
The 2026 Paperwork Guide
BBS Supervision Forms for Supervisors
The Supervision Agreement, the Self-Assessment Report, oversight agreements and logs: what you sign, when, and what replaced the pre-2022 forms.
See every form
The Free Toolkit
Clinical Supervision Templates
Editable session notes, a supervision log, goal examples, a case presentation format and evaluation forms, free to use with any supervisee.
Get the templates
Free Training
Deliberate Practice Supervisor Training
Free six- or twelve-month training for licensed California clinicians, given in exchange for supervising two Sentio Counseling Center trainees.
See how it worksExplore supervision
1Becoming a supervisor
What Is a Clinical Supervisor? Should You Become a Clinical Supervisor? How to Become a Clinical Supervisor in California Supervisor Requirements by License: LMFT, LCSW, LPCC CAMFT Certified vs. AAMFT Approved Supervisor Psychologists as Clinical Supervisors
2Training and CE
Free Deliberate Practice Supervisor Training How to Choose a 15-Hour Supervision Course California Supervisor CE Requirements Six-Hour Deliberate Practice Supervision CE
3Rules and paperwork
BBS Supervision Forms for Supervisors BBS Supervision Requirements for Associates Group and Triadic Supervision Rules Who Can Supervise Whom Remote and Telehealth Supervision California Therapist Rules and Deadlines
Free tools
What Is a Clinical Supervisor?
A clinical supervisor is a licensed mental health professional who oversees the clinical work of a therapist who is not yet licensed and answers to the licensing board for that work. In California, the Board of Behavioral Sciences sets out what supervision includes, who must have it and who may provide it, with parallel rules for supervising marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers and professional clinical counselors. How to Become a Clinical Supervisor in California covers the path to the role.
What Does a Clinical Supervisor Do?
California law defines supervision as "responsibility for, and control of, the quality of mental health and related services provided by the supervisee" (BPC 4980.43.1(b)). The same section lists what that responsibility includes. A clinical supervisor:
- Ensures that the extent, kind and quality of the counseling match the supervisee's education, training and experience.
- Monitors and evaluates the supervisee's assessment, diagnosis and treatment decisions and gives regular feedback.
- Monitors and evaluates the supervisee's ability to serve the clients at each site where they practice.
- Monitors and addresses clinical dynamics, such as countertransference and trauma-related issues, that may affect the supervisory or therapy relationship.
- Ensures that the supervisee complies with the laws and regulations for their profession.
- Reviews progress notes, process notes and other treatment records as the supervisor judges appropriate.
- With each client's written consent, observes sessions directly or reviews audio or video recordings as the supervisor judges appropriate.
The role also carries paperwork. A supervisor signs a Supervision Agreement with each supervisee within 60 days, signs the weekly log of hours every week, assesses the supervisee's strengths and limitations at least once a year, and verifies the hours when supervision ends; BBS Supervision Forms for California Supervisors explains each document.
A clinical supervisor is distinct from an administrative supervisor, who manages scheduling, caseloads and other employment matters. One person can hold both roles, and the clinical supervisor is the one who signs for the supervisee's hours.
Who Needs a Clinical Supervisor in California?
California law requires every MFT trainee, associate and applicant for licensure to be under the supervision of a supervisor at all times (BPC 4980.43.1(a)), and associate clinical social workers and associate professional clinical counselors earn their hours under supervision in the same way. In practice that covers MFT trainees in practicum, registered associates (AMFTs, ASWs and APCCs) earning the 3,000 hours of supervised experience each license requires (an AMFT may count up to 1,300 hours earned as a trainee), and recent graduates counting hours under the 90-day rule before their registration arrives.
Supervision continues until the license is issued. An associate who has completed the required hours still needs at least one hour of direct supervisor contact each week in each setting where they provide direct clinical counseling (BPC 4980.43.2), and the Board's FAQ for supervisors encourages associates to keep the same registration and supervision until they are licensed.
Do Licensed Therapists Still Need Supervision?
A licensed LMFT, LCSW or LPCC may practice independently, without a supervisor. The supervision requirement belongs to the years before licensure: an associate clinical social worker needs a supervisor, and a licensed clinical social worker does not. California's counseling license is the LPCC, so in California the supervised years for counselors are the APCC years.
Licensed therapists who want ongoing input on their cases turn to consultation, individually or in a group, and some become supervisors themselves once they meet the experience requirements. Should You Become a Clinical Supervisor? weighs that decision.
How Is Clinical Supervision Different from Consultation?
California law draws the line in one sentence: "Consultation or peer discussion shall not be considered supervision and shall not qualify as supervised experience" (BPC 4980.43.1(b)). Supervision carries responsibility for, and control of, the supervisee's work and is required until licensure. In consultation, a clinician asks a colleague or a group for input on cases and keeps responsibility for their own decisions.
| Clinical supervision | Consultation | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | MFT trainees, associates and applicants for licensure | Any clinician, licensed or not |
| Required? | Yes, until licensure | No, chosen by the clinician |
| Responsibility for the cases | The supervisor is responsible for the quality of the supervisee's work | The clinician keeps responsibility |
| Counts toward licensure hours | Yes, when the BBS requirements are met | No |
| Paperwork | Supervision Agreement, weekly logs and Experience Verification | None for licensure |
Consultation can be one-to-one or in a group. Sentio runs a monthly deliberate practice consultation group for supervisors and clinicians, licensed and pre-licensed; for an associate, the group adds practice but does not count toward supervised experience.
Who Can Be a Clinical Supervisor in California?
A clinical supervisor must hold one of six licenses: LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, psychologist, licensed educational psychologist, or physician certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. The supervisor must have held an active license for at least two of the five years before supervising, must have practiced or supervised psychotherapy for two of those years, and must hold a current California license that is not under suspension or probation (BPC 4980.03(g); 4996.20(a); 4999.12(h)). LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and licensed educational psychologists also complete 15 hours of supervision training unless they hold an approved supervisor certification, and licensed educational psychologists may supervise no more than 1,200 of a supervisee's hours, all in educationally related mental health services. Who Can Supervise Whom in California shows which license can supervise which associate, and How to Become a Clinical Supervisor in California covers the training and filing steps.
Questions about clinical supervision
What does a clinical supervisor do?
A clinical supervisor takes responsibility for the quality of a pre-licensed therapist's work. In California that includes monitoring the supervisee's assessment, diagnosis and treatment decisions with regular feedback, reviewing notes and records, observing sessions or reviewing recordings with client consent, addressing clinical dynamics such as countertransference, and ensuring the supervisee follows the law.
Does an LCSW need supervision?
Not after licensure. An associate clinical social worker works under supervision until licensed, while a licensed clinical social worker may practice without a supervisor and can seek consultation instead.
Is consultation the same as supervision?
No. California law states that consultation or peer discussion is not supervision and does not count as supervised experience. In supervision the supervisor is responsible for the supervisee's work; in consultation the clinician who asks for advice keeps responsibility for their own cases.
Do associates still need supervision after they finish their hours?
Yes. Until licensed, an associate needs at least one hour of direct supervisor contact each week in each setting where they provide direct clinical counseling.
Who can be a clinical supervisor in California?
An LMFT, LCSW, LPCC, psychologist, licensed educational psychologist or psychiatrist certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology who has held an active license for at least two of the past five years, has practiced or supervised psychotherapy for two of those years, and holds a current California license in good standing. LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs also complete supervisor training, and licensed educational psychologists may supervise no more than 1,200 of a supervisee's hours, all in educationally related mental health services.
More reading from the blog
How this collection is built and maintained
What this collection covers. Free guides for licensed clinicians who supervise, or plan to supervise, marriage and family therapist trainees and associates in California. They cover becoming a supervisor, the training and continuing education the Board of Behavioral Sciences requires, the forms and rules that govern supervision, the day-to-day work of supervising, the business and legal side, and what associates need to know when they look for a supervisor. Each page stands on its own and cites its sources.
Where the facts come from. Primary and official sources. Rules are taken from the Board of Behavioral Sciences' own supervisor resources, forms, handbooks and FAQs, and from the Business and Professions Code and Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations, read on the state's own sites. Where a current Board form and a page differ, the form governs. Pay figures are the pay ranges public employers publish and the rates private practices post, each with the date it was read, and monthly costs are worked out from those rates.
How current it is. Every page shows the date it was last updated or verified, and we recheck the underlying rules on a recurring schedule and after any change the Board announces.
How unknown values are handled. Where the Board, an employer or a survey does not publish a figure, the page says so. We do not impute or invent missing values, and any estimate is labeled as one.
How corrections are handled. Anyone can request a correction by emailing mabundez@sentio.org. We respond within five business days, and corrections supported by the Board's published materials are made immediately.
Independence. The Sentio MFT program is offered by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit graduate school. Sentio also offers a free supervisor training and a paid six-hour supervision course, and both are described on the same terms as other options. This collection contains no paid placements, no affiliate links and no advertising of any kind.
About the authors
These free supervisor guides are written and maintained by the team at Sentio University, a nonprofit graduate school in Los Angeles. The note above explains the sources and the rules we hold ourselves to.
Tony Rousmaniere, Psy.D. is the President of Sentio University and the Executive Director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He is Past-President of the psychotherapy division of the American Psychological Association and the author of many books on Deliberate Practice, including the series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books). In 2017 he published the widely cited Atlantic article “What your therapist doesn’t know.” He is a licensed psychologist in California and Washington.
Alexandre Vaz, Ph.D. is the cofounder of the Deliberate Practice Institute and provides advanced clinical training and supervision to clinicians around the world. He is the author or co-editor of many books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training, including the series The Essentials of Deliberate Practice (APA Books). He is founder and host of Psychotherapy Expert Talks. He is a licensed clinical psychologist in Portugal.