SUPERVISOR LIABILITY

            An important issue for Licensed Professional Counselors who choose to make supervision a part of their practices is that of liability. When a LPC agrees to provide supervision to an intern or LLPC, the LPC becomes potentially liable for any injury caused by the negligence of the intern or LLPC supervisee. This legal doctrine known as respondeat superior is sometimes referred to as vicarious liability.

          Supervisors generally can be held liable only for the negligent acts of supervisees performed in the context of the supervisory relationship. If the supervisor is found to be vicariously liable and required to pay damages to an injured client of the supervisee, the supervisor may be able to recover those damages from the supervisee if the supervisor is found not to be negligent himself or herself.

          In determining vicarious liability, the courts consider a number of factors including the degree of control a supervisor has over a supervisee, the supervisee’s duty to perform the act in question, if the act was within the scope and course of the counseling relationship, the supervisee’s reasons for committing the act, and whether the supervisor could have reasonably expected that the supervisee do this particular act.

          It is obviously in the best interests of both supervisor and supervisee to minimize as much as possible the likelihood that the supervisee will perform negligently. The areas most likely to be vulnerable to supervisee negligence are communication, confidentiality, dual relationships, and boundaries. Some supervisees fail to inform the client that the supervisee is an intern or limited licensee practicing under supervision, even though licensing law and rules in Michigan require that the supervisee’s professional disclosure statement, which must be given to the client as counseling begins, clearly identify the supervisor and state that the supervisee is practicing under supervision.

          Supervisees might breach confidentiality because they do not clearly understand the ethical guidelines and legal mandates concerning confidentiality, or because they are dealing with a crisis situation and the supervisor is not immediately available. Dual relationships constitute a significant number of the complaints against counselors, and supervisors should not make the mistake of assuming that supervisees completely understand what a dual relationship is, how it can be harmful, and the ethical guidelines concerning dual relationships.

          Supervisors can take steps to protect themselves by being appropriately trained and credentialed, using accepted supervision practices, practicing good documentation and record keeping, following ethical codes and guidelines and insuring that supervisees do as well, choosing competent supervisees, and being available to supervisees for consultation and crisis management. Finally, it is important that both supervisor and supervisee have their own professional liability insurance. It is risky to assume that an employer’s policy will always provide adequate protection, especially where the interests of the employer are not the same as those of the supervisor or supervisee. Some professional liability policies cover only what licensing law defines as the scope of practice for counselors. Since supervision is not part of the counselor’s scope of practice in Michigan, supervisors should always verify that their policies cover them when they are providing supervision.