As Utah expands cross-discipline supervision, what happens to professional identity? This interactive panel brings LCSWs, LMFTs, and LCMHCs (including rehabilitation counselors) together to explore bias, ethical tensions, and supervisory responsibility.
"As Utah expands cross-discipline supervision, what happens to professional identity? This timely and interactive panel brings together professionals from social work, marriage and family therapy, clinical mental health counseling, and rehabilitation counseling to explore the opportunities, tensions, and ethical complexities introduced by this legislative shift. A school counseling perspective is also included to broaden the conversation, despite not being directly impacted by the law.
While the legislation permits LCSWs, LMFTs, LCMHCs, and rehabilitation counselors to supervise across disciplines, differences in training models, theoretical orientation, scope of practice, and ethical codes remain. These differences create both meaningful opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and potential challenges in supervision—particularly when supervisors are tasked with guiding supervisees toward licensure requirements outside their own professional identity.
Through a combination of audience engagement and applied learning, this panel invites participants to reflect on their own assumptions and experiences. Attendees will participate in a brief interactive activity designed to surface biases, preconceived ideas, and prior experiences with other disciplines. Panelists will then guide participants through case scenarios that highlight how disciplinary training shapes conceptualization, decision-making, and supervisory approach.
Central to this discussion is the question: What is our responsibility as supervisors when working across disciplines? Panelists will explore strategies for maintaining ethical integrity while prioritizing the supervisee’s professional trajectory, including aligning supervision with the supervisee’s licensure standards rather than the supervisor’s own training background. The panel will also examine the nuanced intersection of legal and ethical guidance, particularly in situations where ethical codes may impose stricter expectations than current law.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of cross-disciplinary differences, increased awareness of personal and systemic bias, and practical strategies for navigating supervision in this evolving landscape. This session is designed for supervisors, supervisees, and mental health professionals seeking to strengthen ethical, culturally responsive, and identity-affirming supervision practices across disciplines."