1. Legal and Ethical Issues for Practicum and Internship
The University of Tennessee at Martin
Master's Program in Counseling
It is important to emphasize the legal and ethical issues in field placements, both from the perspective of the university student and the site supervisor. We expect out students to learn and conform to the policies and procedures of your organization and it is assumed that appropriate professional ethical standards have been considered in developing those guidelines. In the following slides we will present information about the common legal and ethical issues that may arise in a field placement, and also the accepted professional standards of conduct for both students and site supervisors.

2. Objectives of This Training
Clarify the legal and ethical responsibilities of students, site supervisors, and university supervisors
Outline the common legal and ethical issues of supervision
State the best practices involved in resolving legal and ethical issues
Affirm the commitment of students, site supervisors and university supervisors to adhere to the legal and ethical standards of professional associations
We have several objectives for this section of your site supervisor training. Each of these four objectives focuses on the adherence to accepted professional standards of legal and ethical behavior. This includes understanding the responsibilities of students, site supervisors and university supervisors; a knowledge of the common legal and ethical issues of supervision at your site and with your client and/or student population; an awareness of how to resolve legal and ethical issues; and a commitment of fidelity to the legal and ethical standards of your professional organization.
It is difficult to develop a training module on legal and ethical issues that applies to every possible field placement site. There are differences in the types of services offered and types of clients or students served. We offer this training as a general overview of legal and ethical issues and trust you, as the acknowledged licensed professional working with our student, to be aware of the unique demands of your site.

3. Professional Affiliations
Site supervisors, university supervisors and students are expected to follow the standards of their profession
ACA, ASCA, ACES
Site supervisors, university supervisors and students have the responsibility to familiarize themselves with these professional standards and to follow them
Our students may be specializing in school counseling, or clinical mental health counseling, each of which is connected with its own unique professional organization. We have encouraged our students to become members of their particular professional organization, become familiar with the legal and ethical guidelines of that association, and look to follow those guidelines in their field experience with you. It is assumed that you too are a member of your professional organization, are familiar with the legal and ethical guidelines of that association, and will follow those guidelines as you supervise our student.
Our students are encouraged to attend professional conferences and read professional journals in order to stay current in their profession. Most conferences offer either training or presentations on legal and ethical issues and best practices. We would also encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to maintain your own professional standards.

4. Professional Insurance
All UTM practicum students and interns are required to purchase professional liability insurance
Site supervisors are expected to provide their own liability insurance
Professional insurance is required of all of our interns and practicum students. Our students typically are members of either ACA or ASCA which provides student insurance. Many of our school counseling students are also teachers and therefore have professional insurance already. We require proof of insurance from each of our students before they are allowed to begin an internship or practicum. Professional insurance is a necessary safe guard should a legal or ethical issue arise. While we hope it never has to be used, it is an important practice to teach our students to always keep their insurance current. It is assumed that you possess your own professional insurance provided either by you or your employer.

5. Common Legal and Ethical Issues of Practicum Students and Interns
Informed Consent
Confidentiality
Reporting of abuse
Rights of minors versus the rights of parents
These are common issues for practicum students and interns when working with clients/students and you should have a plan of how to address each of them in your supervision. Your clients or students have a right to know that they will be working with a counselor-in-training and that this work will be supervised by you. They should be informed that the counseling issues and strategies that arise in their sessions with the intern or practicum student will be discussed with you, the site supervisor. Some students or clients may not want to work with a counselor-in-training, others may not want their issues discussed with a third party, the site supervisor. You can see how the issue of confidentiality relates to informed consent. Clients or students need to be made aware of the limits of their right to confidentiality and this relates to your ability to also maintain confidentiality as the site supervisor. The student or client has the right to be informed of this and to refuse to participate. It is up to you, as the site supervisor to advise our students how best to broach informed consent and confidentiality with your clients or students.
Learning the protocol of your school or agency for reporting incidents of abuse is an unfortunate but necessary process. Each agency, school and school system has its own protocol developed to deal with these circumstances, but they are all governed by the laws of your state. Since we are an online program, we have students residing in many different states. We rely on you, the site supervisor, to help our students understand the laws of your state in terms of reporting abuse, and in the limitations of the rights of minors.
Your ability to guide our students through these four issues is vital to the well being of your clients and students, the integrity of your agency or school, as well as to the professional development of our students.

6. Common Legal and Ethical Issues in Site Supervision
Balancing the needs of clients/students with those of the supervisee
Maintaining confidentiality of the supervisee
Guarding against dual relationships with supervisee
Properly training the supervisee to deal with legal and ethical issues
The previous slide focused on common legal and ethical issues that an intern or practicum student may confront with their clients or students. This slide shifts the focus to the legal and ethical issues you may encounter as you supervise a counselor-in-training.
Each of these four issues pushes you to accept the responsibilities of a professional supervisor, a position that requires you to consider the well being of several different individuals and entities. In other words, you are expected to be able to take a “big picture” view of your supervision duties and remain vigilant in your protection of your clients/students, your supervisee, the agency or school, and the community at large. This is a great responsibility and one that demands a high level of attentiveness and care from you.
For example, the issues you discuss in supervision should be given the same level of respect in terms of confidentiality as your interactions with clients or students. Our student will expect to be able to confide in you about not only the technical aspects of their work but also their personal feelings, fears and concerns about their professional development. It takes a lot of trust for this to happen, and that trust is more likely to happen if there is a guarantee of confidentiality.
An important aspect of your work with our students will be to provide an orientation to your program that includes proper strategies for dealing with legal and ethical issues.

7. Emergency and Special Circumstances
The site supervisor should train the student how to follow proper organizational procedures in the event of an emergency.
The site supervisor should directly explain to the student how to proceed should the site supervisor be absent from the facility
An especially important aspect of your initial orientation with your supervisee is to discuss your school or agency’s protocol for dealing with special or emergency situations. This training protects your students or clients, the supervisee, other staff members, and yourself from harm. A situation that often gets overlooked involves how the supervisee should deal with your absence from work. Is there another counselor at the site that can serve in your role for that time period? Consider who that might be and discuss this possibility with them. These provisions should be made before the issue occurs. You may have a handbook or other manual of standard operating procedures that you are able to provide to the supervisee. This is a great resource but should not replace your discussion of these topics with the student. The stronger your orientation with the supervisee, the less of a chance for a problem to arise.

8. ACES Standards for Site Supervisors
The supervisor advises the supervisee of the parameters of confidentiality in supervision and acts accordingly. This includes how evaluations of the supervisee may be shared with concurrent and/or future supervisors.
The supervisor infuses ethical discussions throughout supervision sessions.
The supervisor requires the supervisee to address ethical considerations as part of treatment planning and to document this in case notes
The supervisor guides the supervisee’s critical thinking process about various ethical issues that arise in clinical work.
The Association for Counselor Education and Supervision is an organization developed to promote the development of counselor educators and supervisors. ACES has constructed a set of professional standards for site supervisors to help guide their work with counselors-in-training. These standards are meant to improve the supervisory relationship, contribute to the professional development of the intern or practicum student, and protect the well-being of clients or students being served.
As you read these first four standards notice that the focus here is on your interaction with the supervisee both in your supervisory sessions and throughout the course of your normal duties. The intent is for you to begin to see ethical issues as a regular aspect of your work with the supervisee. It begins in the first session as you discuss the parameters of confidentiality and extends into the supervisee’s clinical work. If the supervisee is encouraged to think in these terms during supervision, treatment planning, and in their counseling sessions, he or she will develop sound professional habits. And if you model this attitude and behavior for the supervisee, your own skills will remain sharp.

9. ACES Site Supervisor, cont.
The supervisor is knowledgeable of prevalent ethical violations and works toward minimizing them in supervision.
The supervisor avoids behaviors that might lead to direct liability (e.g., failure to meet with the supervisee as scheduled and/or as needed, neglecting important client information that the supervisee shares, assigning clients to supervisees who are inadequately trained to deal with those clients’ concerns) and indirect (vicarious) liability.
The supervisor addresses ethical issues as needed and, when necessary, reports ethical breaches to relevant constituents (e.g., university, agency, certification and/or licensure board) in a timely manner.
You are the expert of the legal and ethical issues likely to occur in your setting. It is up to you to use this knowledge to minimize the chances of an intern or practicum student running into trouble while working with your students or clients. This type of foresight on your part can drive the orientation you provide for the supervisee and allow you to anticipate issues before they occur or become troublesome. Awareness of ethical issues extends to your own behavior as well, requiring you to reflect on your role as a supervisor in terms of ethical issues.

10. ACES, cont.
The supervisor understands that client welfare is his/her first and highest responsibility and acts accordingly.
The supervisor assigns the supervisee clients who are appropriate to the supervisee’s experience, developmental level, etc., and/or adjusts supervision (e.g., frequency, closeness) as needed. If clients are assigned by others, the supervisor provides input regarding appropriate clients (e.g., number, severity of client issues).
The supervisor ensures that supervisees provide clients with professional disclosure statements and written informed consent documents that specify that the supervisee is under supervision and is not licensed or certified, if this is the case, and includes the name and contact information of the supervisor.
There are several ways in which you, as the site supervisor, can insure your client or student’s welfare. This includes taking care to screen who is assigned to the intern or practicum student. The goal is for you to match the supervisee’s skills and experience with the appropriate client or student. Taking the time to do this will increase the chances of a successful counseling relationship.

11. ACES, cont.
The supervisor does not compromise the supervisory relationship by engaging in relationships with supervisees that are considered inappropriate.
The supervisor does not engage in multiple relationships with supervisees nor with supervisees’ significant others.
The supervisor attends to power issues with the supervisee to prevent harmful non-sexual and sexual relationships.
The supervisor explains to the supervisee the appropriate parameters of addressing the supervisee’s personal issues in supervision (identifies the issue, helps the supervisee see the clinical implications, works to minimize the detrimental effects in the supervisee’s clinical work, contributes to a plan for resolution that does not directly involve the supervisor) and acts accordingly.
Establishing appropriate boundaries with supervisees is also important. This does not mean that you can’t be friends with your supervisee, but you should avoid situations in which you take on another role that involves increased power over the supervisee and that power puts the supervisee at risk for exploitation or harm. Any dual relatiionship that could impair your judgment as a supervisor should be avoided. This includes any romantic or sexual relationship with the supervisee.
Your ability to deal with the supervisee’s personal issues in supervision is vital. Hopefully this will not be necessary in your work with our student, but your knowledge of how to address this situation is an important first step toward successfully resolving an issue. Take the time to consider potential issues, review your responsibilities as a supervisor, and devise potential ways to work through these issues with a supervisee.

12. ACES, cont.
The supervisor provides ongoing performance assessment and evaluation of the supervisee, including the supervisee’s strengths and limitations.
Early in the relationship, the supervisor outlines how the supervisee will be evaluated, by what standards, and how and when this information will be given to the supervisee as well as to third parties.
The supervisor employs methods of direct observation of the supervisee’s work with clients.
The supervisor provides the supervisee with fair and ongoing performance assessments and evaluations, including the supervisee’s strengths and limitations.
The supervisor assesses the supervisee for impairment, blind spots, and other limitations.
Assessment and evaluation are very important elements of your role as a site supervisor. You are the person in the best position to observe, assess and evaluate the supervisee’s performance. The manner in which you perform these tasks can greatly influence the supervisee’s experience at your site. This is why it is so important to provide a thorough orientation for the student that includes a description of how, when and how often you will observe and evaluate the student’s performance. You should directly observe their work with clients or students and explain to the supervisee how that process will work.
Our students don’t expect to be expert counselors at this point in their training. They realize that they are still learning and require consistent feedback from their site supervisor. It is expected that you will provide consistent and fair feedback, emphasizing not only their limitations but also their strengths. Through this comprehensive supervision, the supervisee is able to develop their professional skills.