Clarifying supervision expectations: Construction of a clinical supervision contract as a didactic exercise for advanced graduate students

The use of supervision contracts has been recognized as an important approach within clinical supervision. There are several potential benefits in using supervision contracts, such as establishing clear expectations and goals at the outset of a supervisory relationship. Despite potential benefits of adopting a supervision contract, many supervisors and supervisees do not report using this tool, possibly because of lack of exposure to, and experience with, supervision contracts. As part of an advanced graduate-level course on supervision, consultation, and administration, the students and professor engaged in a didactic experience on supervision contracts, which promoted in-depth conversations about the literature on, and development of, supervision contracts. The purpose of this brief article is to describe this didactic exercise and to provide a summary of components to consider when developing a supervision contract. Other institutions providing training in health service psychology may consider using similar educational opportunities to promote the use of supervision contracts, particularly as supervisees prepare to transition to the role of supervisor.