. 2022 Jul 8;16(2):363–373. doi: 10.1007/s40617-022-00727-3

Table 2.

Sample Scripts for Discussing Supervision Barriers and Solutions

Discussion Topic	Scripts
Difficult Conversation Starters (for both supervisor and trainee)	• I need to talk to you about something important. Please make sure ask any questions you might have because this is a critical task/topic. • I need to have a difficult conversation with you. I am a little nervous. At the same time, I value you and your success more than my discomfort. • I need to discuss something that is a bit uncomfortable. I know that we both value each other, so let’s just keep that in mind as we have this discussion.
Payment Related (for supervisor)	• If you remember from our contract, we agreed on specific timelines for tracking hours and for payment. I wanted to make sure that you received my last invoice, as I did not receive your last payment. • You have now missed two consecutive payments. I don’t want to impede your progress accruing your experience hours; however, I do want to review the contract again and discuss a path forward so that we avoid a situation where we need to pause supervision activities or that would result in me being unable to sign your EVF.
Need for Consent (for the supervisor)	• Because we do not work at the same company, it is critical that we comply with our profession’s ethics standards, and your company’s requirements related to client confidentiality. • Can you please show me the completed consent forms that allow me to observe you with clients? • Can you please discuss this with someone at your company and get the necessary consent forms for us to review the next time we meet? We can discuss how to approach caregivers to give them the opportunity to consent to me observing sessions.
Need for Additional Supervised Experience Hours Based on Performance (for the supervisor)	• I am concerned with our inability to get you to mastery with X skill despite having addressed it several times. I am not comfortable marking this skill as mastered until you are able to meet the specific competency we agreed on. I do think that with Y additional supervision hours we could get you to mastery, however, I want to be mindful of the cost to you. What are your thoughts? • Based on the last X performance evaluations, I am concerned that we need more time to get you to mastery for X skills. When supervision is provided in the workplace, a supervisor would typically just increase supervision contacts. However, for us, that would result in an additional cost to you. From my perspective I think X additional hours would likely be sufficient. What do you think about that?
Request to Communicate with Other Supervisor(s) (for the supervisor)	• You mentioned that you have another BCBA providing supervision for some of your experience hours. It is important that your other supervisor and I collaborate and remain in contact. Doing so ensures that we are no duplicating efforts, that we are thoughtful about who is responsible for what content, and that we can share information about your progress. Could you please send an introduction email between you, me, and your other supervisor to facilitate a meeting?

Discussion Topic

Scripts

Difficult Conversation Starters

(for both supervisor and trainee)

• I need to talk to you about something important. Please make sure ask any questions you might have because this is a critical task/topic.

• I need to have a difficult conversation with you. I am a little nervous. At the same time, I value you and your success more than my discomfort.

• I need to discuss something that is a bit uncomfortable. I know that we both value each other, so let’s just keep that in mind as we have this discussion.

Payment Related

(for supervisor)

• If you remember from our contract, we agreed on specific timelines for tracking hours and for payment. I wanted to make sure that you received my last invoice, as I did not receive your last payment.

• You have now missed two consecutive payments. I don’t want to impede your progress accruing your experience hours; however, I do want to review the contract again and discuss a path forward so that we avoid a situation where we need to pause supervision activities or that would result in me being unable to sign your EVF.

Need for Consent

(for the supervisor)

• Because we do not work at the same company, it is critical that we comply with our profession’s ethics standards, and your company’s requirements related to client confidentiality.

• Can you please show me the completed consent forms that allow me to observe you with clients?

• Can you please discuss this with someone at your company and get the necessary consent forms for us to review the next time we meet? We can discuss how to approach caregivers to give them the opportunity to consent to me observing sessions.

Need for Additional Supervised Experience Hours Based on Performance

(for the supervisor)

• I am concerned with our inability to get you to mastery with X skill despite having addressed it several times. I am not comfortable marking this skill as mastered until you are able to meet the specific competency we agreed on. I do think that with Y additional supervision hours we could get you to mastery, however, I want to be mindful of the cost to you. What are your thoughts?

• Based on the last X performance evaluations, I am concerned that we need more time to get you to mastery for X skills. When supervision is provided in the workplace, a supervisor would typically just increase supervision contacts. However, for us, that would result in an additional cost to you. From my perspective I think X additional hours would likely be sufficient. What do you think about that?

Request to Communicate with Other Supervisor(s)

(for the supervisor)

• You mentioned that you have another BCBA providing supervision for some of your experience hours. It is important that your other supervisor and I collaborate and remain in contact. Doing so ensures that we are no duplicating efforts, that we are thoughtful about who is responsible for what content, and that we can share information about your progress. Could you please send an introduction email between you, me, and your other supervisor to facilitate a meeting?