Supervision is required for therapists in internship status, which includes student therapists and post-graduate therapists who are not yet independently licensed. Many states require two years of post-graduate experience before independent licensure. If your therapist is under supervision, he or she should have explained that to you as part of the disclosure when you started working together. Also, fully licensed therapists may be working for someone or as part of a treatment team, and should also disclose that information.

The supervisor can't provide supervision and therapy to the same person at the same time. That would be a huge boundaries problem, and unethical, although the supervisor would also be a licensed therapist or other licensed mental health professional.

I haven't gone to a therapist who was currently under supervision, but have had therapists talk about past supervisors. Looking back, I used to refer to my supervisor much more frequently when I was a student than I have lately. I'm not sure if that is because I'm more independent now, or if it is because since graduation I have worked in residential or inpatient settings where it is more of a treatment team approach. I still make sure that my individual clients understand that I have a supervisor. I wouldn't tell my clients about my own therapy or refer to my therapist, though. Although, in this less than ideal world, I haven't had supervisors who take supervision very seriously since graduation. I can't go to my therapist and talk specifically about my clients, but I do talk to my therapist about professional issues. I've felt like my own therapist was a lot more help professionally than my supervisor. But the purpose of the relationship is completely different.

Working under supervision does have the advantage of making insurance or medicare/medicaid coverage easier, since an intern works under the supervisor's license. There was one job I interviewed for where they wanted interns for that reason, and told me that once I was licensed I wouldn't be able to see certain clients because I wouldn't be on those insurance panels, and probably wouldn't be able to get on them because certain insurance panels are closed and not adding therapists. So that is a real issue.

I'm not sure how helpful this is. Did I answer any of your questions? It can be confusing when I try to answer posts from the perspective of a client and from the perspective of a therapist at the same time, yet I am both, and see it both ways.