Informed consent through contracting for supervision: minimizing risks, enhancing benefits

Obtaining informed consent has become a routine part of both initiating and continuing clinical services. Psychologists are trained to anticipate the risks and benefits, identify alternatives, understand limits to privacy, explain these factors to prospective clients, and assist them in making decisions about their participation. Only in recent years have psychologists begun to more formally incorporate the principles of informed consent into their work with supervisees. Providing supervisees with relevant information at the outset helps to minimize risks for supervisors and supervisees and to maximize benefits for supervisees and their clients. This article addresses the objectives and benefits of obtaining informed consent to supervision, highlights relevant ethical standards and guidelines, and describes the elements of a supervisory informed consent document. Keywords: supervision, ethics, informed consent, supervision contracts, ethical standards and guidelines for supervision