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Obtaining informed consent has become a routine part of both initiating and continuing clinical services. Psychologists are trained to anticipate the risks and benefits, identify alternatives, understand limits to privacy, explain these factors to prospective clients, and assist them in making decisions about their participation. Only in recent years have psychologists begun to more formally incorporate the principles of informed consent into their work with supervisees. Providing supervisees with relevant information at the outset helps to minimize risks for supervisors and supervisees and to maximize benefits for supervisees and their clients. This article addresses the objectives and benefits of obtaining informed consent to supervision, highlights relevant ethical standards and guidelines, and describes the elements of a supervisory informed consent document. Keywords: supervision, ethics, informed consent, supervision contracts, ethical standards and guidelines for supervision

Most psychologists who face board complaints experience significant personal and professional distress. As a result, they become vulnerable to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses that may compromise their clinical work as well as their ability to defend themselves. Awareness of some of the most common sources of distress associated with complaints can allow psychologists to take steps to minimize, if not obviate, problematic countertransference, impaired objectivity, and self-defeating responses throughout and beyond the complaint investigation and adjudication process. Further, awareness of these pitfalls can inform the work of the supervisors, consultants, and psychotherapists who assist psychologists facing ethics complaints. Keywords: ethics, licensing board complaints, supervision, countertransference, impaired objectivity