According to Section 4 of the Professional Practice Standards, clinical supervision has specific characteristics:
- it is contractual;
- it is purposeful (intentional);
- records are kept;
- there are regular meetings; and
- there may be shared responsibility for the well-being of clients depending on circumstances and modality
Registrants are required to set out the details of their supervisory arrangements in an agreement – ideally a written one. Among other things, the agreement should address responsibility for client well-being. The sharing of responsibilities should be reasonable in light of the circumstances, taking into account a variety of factors including: the training and experience of the supervisee, the practice setting and supports or oversights within, the client population and potential population risks, among other things.
In the event CRPO ever received a complaint and a supervisory relationship was involved, the matter would be addressed by closely reviewing the situation and understanding the roles and conduct of the parties involved in the complaint. All of this information (and any other relevant details) would inform the degree and manner in which the parties involved would be held responsible. Note if a complaint involves cross-professional supervisory relationships, each party would be subject to the processes of their respective regulator.