Hi Katie,
I'm wondering if you have a 'consent to record' form that you ask your supervisees to sign when asking their permission to record supervision sessions? The supervisors I've had record my sessions have just had an informal chat with me to get my permission, but I am wondering about creating a consent form for this, as I would with my clients...
-‘curious’ in coogee
Dear Curious,
Yes, I ask both clients and supervisees to provide written consent before I record their sessions. In my practice, I’ve decided to do this via my terms of service. So, when supervisees (or clients) first sign up for sessions with me, in addition to reading about my other policies they also read a paragraph about session recording. This details why I sometimes record sessions, how recordings are made, used, stored and deleted, as well as how consent to record is administered in my practice. (I also have a paragraph covering my use of an AI notetaker in supervision sessions, too.)
Crucially this paragraph makes clear that, if supervisees consent, this does not mean I will automatically record their sessions, but rather that they are open to recording should they or I decide this may be worthwhile in future. We will talk further about this and they will need to grant consent on a session-by-session basis for me to actually make any recordings.
At the end of this paragraph, supervisees (or clients) are asked whether or not they would like to consent to recording. If they choose ‘no’, I note this and do not ask about recording again. If they choose ‘yes’, I note this and speak further with them about it if/when recording seems valuable.
Why do I put this in my terms of service?
Because full and fully informed consent is important to me. I’d rather ask up-front before we form a therapeutic relationship. I hope that this reduces any relational obligation on the part of the supervisee (or client) to say ‘yes’ if they really wish to say ‘no’.
Why do I require written PLUS subsequent verbal (recorded) consent?
Again, the full and fully informed consent thing: I want to ensure supervisees (and clients) who consent are fully comfortable with recording and feel in control of this at all times. I make it clear in every recorded session that they are free to ask me to pause, stop or delete the recording at any point, and to withdraw or change their consent at any time.
It is my hope that this means people who choose to be recorded are truly comfortable with this and not acting under obligation. This also reduces (though doesn’t eliminate) my fears that being recorded will adversely impact their experience in supervision or therapy.
Do we really need written consent? Isn’t an informal chat enough?
I’m not a lawyer, but did put this question to a lawyer friend of mine who, after spitting out her tea and nearly falling off her chair, simply said: “Verbal agreements aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.” Touche!
I take a similar, if more poetic, view inspired by Robert Frost’s classic poem, Mending Wall. The most famous line of the poem belongs to the poet’s fellow wall-mender, who (twice) says: “Good fences make good neighbours.” And I agree. While you – and your supervisee – may feel ‘ok’ agreeing to recording via a chat alone, I’d encourage you to build a better fence.
By honouring the boundaries between the two of you (around things like recording and other important policies), by putting them in writing, you’re being good ‘professional neighbours’ to each other – you’re showing care by taking the time to ensure you both agree and formalising your agreement so there’s a clear record of this to which you both can refer.
Good written agreements…good fences…to my mind, help create that emotional and practical safety that helps us be ‘good neighbours’, freed to honour and care for each other in our service-provision relationships.
Hope this helps!
