Clinical Supervision Within the Primary Care Behavioral Health Model: What We Know and Where We Need to Go

Impact Statement This article advances the importance of establishing best practices in training and education for clinical supervision within the primary care behavioral health (PCBH) model in community-based primary care. Additionally, this article highlights the need for the establishment of ongoing professional development specific to clinical supervisors in primary care settings due to the impact that clinical supervision can have on patient outcomes. Community-based primary care settings play an important role in the provision of health care to vulnerable populations, as well as in primary care education. Much attention has been given to medical education in community-based primary care and as the need for workforce development grows for behavioral health in primary care, clinical supervision of prelicensure psychology learners in primary care will also need greater attention. Clinical supervision not only impacts learner professional development but also impacts the patient care learners provide. The purpose of this article is to give attention to clinical supervision within the primary care behavioral health (PCBH) model in the context of community-based primary care. The intersection of supervision approaches in specialty mental health care and medical education will be presented, as well as how these approaches can be combined when working with learners within PCBH. Additionally, challenges to clinical supervision in primary care will be discussed as well as solutions to improve not only workforce development in PCBH but also professional development for clinical supervisors in primary care.