In the doctoral practicum, PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision students are supervised by a counseling professional at the field experience site. In the doctoral internship, individual or triadic supervision will be provided by a Walden University faculty member. Students are, however, required to identify a clinical supervisor for doctoral internship experiences in the Counseling domain.
Practicum students must identify a site supervisor that meets the Site Supervisor Credentials and Requirements and who will fulfill all of the Site Supervisor Responsibilities listed below. This individual must be listed as the site supervisor on the Meditrek application and be formally approved by the SOC-OFE. Any changes to the Walden-approved site supervisor must be approved in advance by the SOC-OFE.
Site supervisors for all PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision students must possess the following qualifications:
Important notes:
Site supervisors are responsible for the following:
[1] The School of Counseling offers a free Foundations in Counseling Supervision course that prospective site supervisors may complete to meet this requirement.
A designee can be approved by the Walden-approved site supervisor for the purposes of acting in the case of a mental health or other emergency or supporting the student upon request. Designees are not supervisors and do not provide supervision in lieu of the site supervisor. The Walden-approved site supervisor must fulfill the remaining Site Supervisor Responsibilities listed above.
A temporary site supervisor may need to be identified if the Walden-approved site supervisor is temporarily out of the office. The temporary site supervisor will assume all of the duties of the Walden-approved site supervisor during their absence (see Site Supervisor Responsibilities above). Students are permitted to work with a temporary site supervisor for no more than 2 weeks. If the absence is longer than 2 weeks, the student must go through the formal application process to have a new site supervisor approved. There is no formal application process for approving a temporary site supervisor, but the temporary supervisor must meet the Site Supervisor Credentials and Requirements listed above, and the student must provide specific information about the temporary supervisor to the faculty supervisor and the SOC-OFE before seeing clients under the supervision of the temporary site supervisor.
Multiple role relationships in supervision occur when a counselor is in a professional role with a supervisor and at the same time is in another role with the same supervisor. It is essential for counselors to refrain from entering into multiple role relationships. The establishment of clear role boundaries between site supervisor and student increases the likelihood of objective and appropriate supervision. The counseling masters’ programs adhere to the American Counseling Association (ACA) standards and best practices regarding multiple role relationships. The current ACA Code of Ethics requires that one avoid supervising close relatives, romantic partners, and friends. Students also cannot be approved to complete field experiences at sites where they hold leadership positions.