PhD/PsyD Unlicensed Supervisor on Postdoc

[CA_Postdoc]

I am currently on a APA accredited VA postdoc in CA and I recently found out one of my supervisors is unlicensed (not licensed in CA nor in any other state). The person is not listed as a primary or delegated supervisor on my California Board of Psychology Agreement and my primary supervisor is the supervisor of record in patients' medical records for the care I provide under the unlicensed supervisor. I have two questions

1) The unlicensed supervisor did not disclose her unlicensed status to me at the beginning of our supervisory experience (I learned about it when she disclosed recently in a meeting). Moreover, the supervisor initially suggested that she is licensed and that the VA system takes time to update which is why my primary supervisor will be the supervisor of record for the care she supervises. I now believe the reason she is not the supervisor of record in medical charts is because she is not licensed and this is not related to the VA computer system as she suggested. I worry that the misinformation she presented may be an ethical concern and also may impact my SPE hours. Does anyone have input and/or suggestions on how I might bring up this concern, potentially with my primary supervisor or with the training director?

2) Is there a limit to the number cases or clinical hours that an unlicensed supervisor can supervise? (within CA at a VA) I checked the California Board of Psychology website, however did not find clear guidelines. I am concerned that core competencies of my postdoc experience are being supervised my an unlicensed clinician.

Any input on the either or both of these questions would be much appreciated.

Thank you

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[Therapist4Chnge]

In the VA a clinician just needs to be licensed somewhere, not necessarily in that state. If they aren’t licensed ANYWHERE, then that is a problem. Hopefully someone with more recent VA exp can share their insights.

 

[CA_Postdoc]

In the VA a clinician just needs to be licensed somewhere, not necessarily in that state. If they aren’t licensed ANYWHERE, then that is a problem. Hopefully someone with more recent VA exp can share their insights.

That is correct and also this supervisor is not licensed in any state or anywhere.

 

[PsychPhDone]

That is correct and also this supervisor is not licensed in any state or anywhere.

I think this is a problem in that I'm not sure you can count any of your hours of supervision with this person. I'd check with your TD to be sure. I know at my internship site all our supervisors had to be licensed in CA, and we were told that was the case because of BOP rules. However, I also know that postdocs at my current site "supervise" so maybe there's some way around this.

Sorry this is all anecdotal.

 

[bcliff]

is it tiered supervision? does this person (technically postdoc?) receive supervision themselves in regard to your cases?


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[foreverbull]

1) It sounds unethical if you were intentionally misled about her qualifications/licensure, but it's your word against hers.

2) Speaking as someone familiar with the CA BOP and supervisory agreements (per their current documentation), if the person isn't part of your supervision agreement, why is she supervising you? I find the situation a bit confusing. She sounds like a delegated supervisor who should be under the supervision of your primary (I knew postdocs who were able to supervise under a licensed psychologist as delegated supervisors at UCCs and this was typical, but the majority of supervision came from a licensed psychologist). If she's not on the supervision agreement as a delegated supervisor, I don't think those hours she supervised would count anyway, unless the VA works differently than other postdocs and has different rules. Check with your TD first and ask for clarification, review the documents/agreements on the CA BOP website, and you might contact the board for clarification (but they're terrible at responding to pre-licensed folks).
I'm not sure if there is a limit to the number of hours countable under a delegated sup, but for sure, your primary HAS to do at least 1 hour per week.

 

[WisNeuro]

In the VA a clinician just needs to be licensed somewhere, not necessarily in that state. If they aren’t licensed ANYWHERE, then that is a problem. Hopefully someone with more recent VA exp can share their insights.

They can practice under someone else's license (effectively acting like a postdoc) with the expectation that they will soon obtain licensure. Happens occasionally in the VA.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I'd say it's worth emailing the board directly to clarify. If the unlicensed supervisor is supervised by a licensed psychologist with respect to all of your work, that may be ok. But it may not.

The supervisor should definitely have disclosed her unlicensed status before working with you, though.

And yep, as WisNeuro said, I've often seen folks start their careers in the VA while unlicensed, and they'll be assigned a licensed supervisor to sign off on their chart notes, review cases, etc. There's usually a time frame (~a year) they're given to get licensed, after which they'd probably be released if not successful.

 

[CA_Postdoc]

I'd say it's worth emailing the board directly to clarify. If the unlicensed supervisor is supervised by a licensed psychologist with respect to all of your work, that may be ok. But it may not.

The supervisor should definitely have disclosed her unlicensed status before working with you, though.

And yep, as WisNeuro said, I've often seen folks start their careers in the VA while unlicensed, and they'll be assigned a licensed supervisor to sign off on their chart notes, review cases, etc. There's usually a time frame (~a year) they're given to get licensed, after which they'd probably be released if not successful.

Thank you all for your input!

 

[psychRA]

In the VA a clinician just needs to be licensed somewhere, not necessarily in that state. If they aren’t licensed ANYWHERE, then that is a problem. Hopefully someone with more recent VA exp can share their insights.

In California, psychologists must be licensed in CA in order to be the primary supervisor for psychology trainees. You can still practice as a VA psychologist with an out of state license in CA, but you can't be a supervisor.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

In California, psychologists must be licensed in CA in order to be the primary supervisor for psychology trainees. You can still practice as a VA psychologist with an out of state license in CA, but you can't be a supervisor.

This is actually an important ancillary point for all newly-graduated folks--check your individual state guidelines, as (like psychRA mentions) more than state one requires your supervisor(s) to be locally licensed.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

In California, psychologists must be licensed in CA in order to be the primary supervisor for psychology trainees. You can still practice as a VA psychologist with an out of state license in CA, but you can't be a supervisor.

That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t sure so I deferred to others. Thank you for clarifying that point.

 

[FionaGoode]

Just wanting to double check: are you sure she said she’s not licensed? Is it possible that she’s simply not credentialed at the va yet? We often have folks who are licensed but just waiting on paperwork to go through (this would explain the cprs comment). She can’t be primary signer on your notes, but she can technically supervise you (I’m not sure if it requires that she be supervised as your supervisor, but it might).