EPPP Study Guide: Supervisory & Consultative Relationships

Clinical supervision is a formal, hierarchical relationship where the supervisor acts as a gatekeeper and retains ultimate legal, clinical, and ethical responsibility for patient welfare. Under this framework, supervisors are subject to direct liability for inadequate oversight and vicarious liability for the negligent actions of their trainees. In contrast, professional consultation operates as a non-hierarchical, collaborative, and time-limited interaction where the consultant does not assume direct clinical responsibility for the consultee's client. Managing these arrangements effectively requires explicit informed consent contracts, careful avoidance or containment of dual roles, and structured frameworks such as Gerald Caplan’s consultation model