Clinical supervision is a crucial component in the training of helping professionals. In the arena of supervised practice, nascent counsellors integrate theoretical and conceptual learning and apply skills and strategies in vivo. Clinical supervisors are simultaneously tasked with facilitating the professional growth and development of supervisees while safeguarding the wellbeing of clients and the public. Previous studies identified clinical supervision as the third most frequent activity of professional helpers (Norcross, Hedges, & Castle, 2002), and one in which 85-90% of those with 15 or more years of experience participated (Rønnestad, Orlinsky, Parks, & Davis, 1997). Concern was expressed, however, about the lack of formal training required (Scott, Ingram, Vitanza, & Smith, 2000), with Watkins (1997) noting that “Something does not compute (p. 604).

Thankfully, the status of clinical supervision as a specialty practice is evolving from emerging to established, as is our understanding of supervisory relationships and processes. CCPA anticipates heightened demand for clinical supervision across the country and across the career span (i.e., novice through veteran). The increased call for clinical supervisors will reflect developments on the regulatory landscape, dawning recognition of the benefits that accrue from clinical supervision at all levels of practitioner experience, and growing appreciation of clinical supervision as a specialty area of practice with its own unique corpus of knowledge and skills.