Supervising professional trainees: legal implications for mental health institutions and practitioners

When a professional trainee has been involved in the care of a patient who claims to be physically or emotionally injured as a result of that care and files a lawsuit, the trainee, his clinical supervisors, the school in which the trainee is enrolled, and the affiliated health care institution may all be potential defendants in the lawsuit. The liability of the supervisor and the facilities may depend on the supervisory functions they have in relation to the trainee. The author examines the legal implications of these supervisory functions for the training of mental health professionals and discusses the potential direct and vicarious liabilities associated with such responsibilities.