The provision of readily accessible, good quality clinical supervision and case management is a distinctive feature of IAPT services that helps to secure effective clinical outcomes for clients experiencing common mental health problems, who have been referred to these innovative services. The requirements for supervision were specified in the IAPT Supervision Guidance, stating that all trainees and qualified staff delivering high or low intensity interventions through IAPT services should be supervised. Clinical supervisors should be trained in IAPT supervision have a working knowledge and experience of the interventions they are supervising. Supervision is a key activity which will determine the success of the IAPT programme. Training for IAPT supervisors is based on a competency framework developed specifically for the programme available on the link below. A named senior therapist should oversee and monitor the effectiveness of service supervision, with the service's Clinical and Course Directors.  Appropriate governance arrangements should be in place including contracts for supervision.
Supervision for High Intensity CBT therapists should be weekly and also review ongoing clinical cases every two to four weeks or at the start of each supervision session, looking at case management and individual clients' outcome measures.  High Intensity trainees should also receive additional in-depth supervision of training cases at college, usually in groups of two to three trainees for around one and a half hours per week.
Supervision for PWPs delivering Low Intensity CBT assessment and treatment should consist of individual weekly case management supervision for a minimum of one hour for FTE staff due to the high volume caseload and front-line assessment role of the workforce to discuss assessment, risk issues and clinical decisions to step up treatment to high intensity, discharge or refer on to specialist services. PWPs should also receive fortnightly clinical skills supervision of approximately one hour that can be delivered in groups of up to twelve PWPs and should be educational in nature. PWP trainees should also receive individual case management and fortnightly clinical skills group supervision, for around an hour a fortnight, to discuss assessment, risk issues and clinical decisions to step up treatment to high intensity, discharge or refer on to specialist services.
All staff should also have routine professional and management supervision in addition. Key supervision documents for Low and High intensity CBT supervision are available on the links below:
- IAPT supervision guidance
- IAPT guidance for commissioning IAPT supervisor training
- Roth & Pilling Supervision Competencies
- Reach Out; national programme supervisor materials to support the delivery of training for psychological wellbeing practitioners delivering low intensity interventions
- The competences required to deliver effective cognitive and behavioural therapy for people with depression and anxiety disorders