u/Comfortable_Essay827

I’m a California associate and I’m dealing with a confusing situation while leaving a group practice. I’m hoping other associates or supervisors familiar with BBS requirements can help me understand what I should be asking or looking for.
I’ve been at this practice for almost two years and accumulated around 700 direct clinical hours. One of the major issues that led to my decision to leave was ongoing concern about my supervision paperwork and documentation. My supervision agreement had not been properly signed at the beginning, and my weekly logs were not being signed consistently. I had repeatedly been told that everything could essentially be signed later.
As I accumulated more hours, I became increasingly uncomfortable with this and started asking for my paperwork and hours to be completed. When I pushed for the documentation, my supervisor questioned whether I was planning to quit and brought up previous associates who had asked him to sign their hours and then resigned. He indicated that if he signed everything and I subsequently left, it would affect his trust.
There were also experiences during group supervision that made me increasingly uncomfortable. Some feedback felt personal rather than clinical, including comments about my accent potentially affecting referrals/client retention. Because of several experiences like this, I ultimately decided I needed to leave.
Last Friday, after another conversation with my supervisor, I was asked to submit my resignation. I did. He then signed my Verification of Experience Hours, and the documentation I received reflects last week as my last day/date through which my hours were verified.
However, I had provided two weeks’ notice the next day , so now I’m being told that I am still expected to work through the date I originally selected and continue providing client care.
This is where I am genuinely confused.
I have asked my supervisor in writing whether I should continue conducting full therapy sessions during this remaining period or whether my role should primarily be informing clients of my departure and facilitating transitions. I have also asked whether hours worked after last week are supervised hours and how those hours would be documented/verified.
My concern is not getting paid for extra hours or trying to leave early. My concern is whether I am actually under BBS-compliant supervision while providing clinical services after the date reflected on my verification/employment paperwork.
I have also been trying very hard to ensure continuity of care. I contacted clients to inform them of my departure, discussed their preferences for continuing treatment, documented those conversations, contacted therapists regarding possible transfers, and provided the practice with a spreadsheet containing each client’s transition information and preferences. I sent written communication about the transition plan.
My supervisor has now told me that these questions should be discussed during supervision and that I am expected to continue following practice policies and prioritizing client care through my remaining employment period. I have become very uncomfortable attending group supervision because of previous interactions/comments that I experienced as discriminatory.

I’m an ASW in California, and I recently decided to leave the private practice where I’ve been working. I wanted to share what happened because the whole experience made me realize how vulnerable associates can be when so much of our licensure depends on our supervisors.
I had accumulated around 700 clinical hours at this practice, and for most of my time there, none of my weekly logs had been signed. I had been told that they don’t sign hours regularly and that everything gets signed when an associate leaves or finishes their hours.
Things became much more uncomfortable after a group supervision session led by one of the owners, who is also involved in supervision. In front of my coworkers, I was told that I was “too friendly” with clients and that clients might feel like they were talking to a friend instead of a therapist. I was also told that my accent might be contributing to my client retention and that because of it, I needed to work harder and develop more skills.
I became emotional during the supervision and felt humiliated. Later, she apologized to me and said she did not intend to hurt me, which I appreciated, but the experience had already made me question whether I felt safe staying there.
That was when I became extremely worried about my unsigned hours.
I asked my primary supervisor to sign my documentation. Instead of simply addressing the request, the conversation became about why I was asking. He repeatedly told me that signing the logs regularly wasn’t required and asked whether I was planning to quit.
At one point, he essentially told me that if he signed everything and then I quit, it would break his trust.
He also told me that my anxiety about the situation was making him uncomfortable and that I was making a big deal out of it.
That was probably the moment I realized how unhealthy the power dynamic had become.
I wasn’t asking him to do me a favor. I was trying to make sure that hundreds of hours toward my license were properly documented. Yet somehow I felt like I had to prove that I was trustworthy just for asking for my own paperwork.
I eventually contacted the BBS for guidance and continued requesting that the documentation be completed. After a very stressful back-and-forth, my supervisor finally signed my hours.
I now physically have the signed paperwork, which was an enormous relief.
But by that point, I knew I needed to leave.
I submitted my resignation and am now working on transitioning my clients appropriately before my last day.
The hardest part of this experience wasn’t receiving criticism. I’m an associate. I expect feedback, correction, and supervision. I know I still have a lot to learn.
What affected me was the combination of public criticism, the comment about my accent, the refusal/resistance around signing my hours, and being made to feel like my anxiety about protecting my licensure hours was somehow a personal problem or an act of disloyalty.
Associates are in such a strange position. We’re expected to advocate for ourselves professionally, but the person we may need to advocate against is sometimes the same person whose signature we need for hundreds or thousands of hours.
Thankfully, my hours are signed now and I’m moving on.
But this experience completely changed how I think about clinical supervision. A supervisor can have an incredible amount of power over an associate’s career, and I really think supervisors need to understand how intimidating that power can feel from the associate’s side.

I’m an ASW in California, and I recently decided to leave the private practice where I’ve been working. I wanted to share what happened because the whole experience made me realize how vulnerable associates can be when so much of our licensure depends on our supervisors.
I had accumulated around 700 clinical hours at this practice, and for most of my time there, none of my weekly logs had been signed. I had been told that they don’t sign hours regularly and that everything gets signed when an associate leaves or finishes their hours.
Things became much more uncomfortable after a group supervision session led by one of the owners, who is also involved in supervision. In front of my coworkers, I was told that I was “too friendly” with clients and that clients might feel like they were talking to a friend instead of a therapist. I was also told that my accent might be contributing to my client retention and that because of it, I needed to work harder and develop more skills.
I became emotional during the supervision and felt humiliated. Later, she apologized to me and said she did not intend to hurt me, which I appreciated, but the experience had already made me question whether I felt safe staying there.
That was when I became extremely worried about my unsigned hours.
I asked my primary supervisor to sign my documentation. Instead of simply addressing the request, the conversation became about why I was asking. He repeatedly told me that signing the logs regularly wasn’t required and asked whether I was planning to quit.
At one point, he essentially told me that if he signed everything and then I quit, it would break his trust.
He also told me that my anxiety about the situation was making him uncomfortable and that I was making a big deal out of it.
That was probably the moment I realized how unhealthy the power dynamic had become.
I wasn’t asking him to do me a favor. I was trying to make sure that hundreds of hours toward my license were properly documented. Yet somehow I felt like I had to prove that I was trustworthy just for asking for my own paperwork.
I eventually contacted the BBS for guidance and continued requesting that the documentation be completed. After a very stressful back-and-forth, my supervisor finally signed my hours.
I now physically have the signed paperwork, which was an enormous relief.
But by that point, I knew I needed to leave.
I submitted my resignation and am now working on transitioning my clients appropriately before my last day.
The hardest part of this experience wasn’t receiving criticism. I’m an associate. I expect feedback, correction, and supervision. I know I still have a lot to learn.
What affected me was the combination of public criticism, the comment about my accent, the refusal/resistance around signing my hours, and being made to feel like my anxiety about protecting my licensure hours was somehow a personal problem or an act of disloyalty.
Associates are in such a strange position. We’re expected to advocate for ourselves professionally, but the person we may need to advocate against is sometimes the same person whose signature we need for hundreds or thousands of hours.
Thankfully, my hours are signed now and I’m moving on.
But this experience completely changed how I think about clinical supervision. A supervisor can have an incredible amount of power over an associate’s career, and I really think supervisors need to understand how intimidating that power can feel from the associate’s side.

I’m an ASW in California, and I recently decided to leave the private practice where I’ve been working. I wanted to share what happened because the whole experience made me realize how vulnerable associates can be when so much of our licensure depends on our supervisors.
I had accumulated around 500 clinical hours at this practice, and for most of my time there, none of my weekly logs had been signed. I had been told that they don’t sign hours regularly and that everything gets signed when an associate leaves or finishes their hours.
Things became much more uncomfortable after a group supervision session led by one of the owners, who is also involved in supervision. In front of my coworkers, I was told that I was “too friendly” with clients and that clients might feel like they were talking to a friend instead of a therapist. I was also told that my accent might be contributing to my client retention and that because of it, I needed to work harder and develop more skills.
I became emotional during the supervision and felt humiliated. Later, she apologized to me and said she did not intend to hurt me, which I appreciated, but the experience had already made me question whether I felt safe staying there.
That was when I became extremely worried about my unsigned hours.
I asked my primary supervisor to sign my documentation. Instead of simply addressing the request, the conversation became about why I was asking. He repeatedly told me that signing the logs regularly wasn’t required and asked whether I was planning to quit.
At one point, he essentially told me that if he signed everything and then I quit, it would break his trust.
He also told me that my anxiety about the situation was making him uncomfortable and that I was making a big deal out of it.
That was probably the moment I realized how unhealthy the power dynamic had become.
I wasn’t asking him to do me a favor. I was trying to make sure that hundreds of hours toward my license were properly documented. Yet somehow I felt like I had to prove that I was trustworthy just for asking for my own paperwork.
I eventually contacted the BBS for guidance and continued requesting that the documentation be completed. After a very stressful back-and-forth, my supervisor finally signed my hours.
I now physically have the signed paperwork, which was an enormous relief.
But by that point, I knew I needed to leave.
I submitted my resignation and am now working on transitioning my clients appropriately before my last day.
The hardest part of this experience wasn’t receiving criticism. I’m an associate. I expect feedback, correction, and supervision. I know I still have a lot to learn.
What affected me was the combination of public criticism, the comment about my accent, the refusal/resistance around signing my hours, and being made to feel like my anxiety about protecting my licensure hours was somehow a personal problem or an act of disloyalty.
Associates are in such a strange position. We’re expected to advocate for ourselves professionally, but the person we may need to advocate against is sometimes the same person whose signature we need for hundreds or thousands of hours.
Thankfully, my hours are signed now and I’m moving on.
But this experience completely changed how I think about clinical supervision. A supervisor can have an incredible amount of power over an associate’s career, and I really think supervisors need to understand how intimidating that power can feel from the associate’s side.

Hi everyone, I’m an ASW in California and looking for advice about a situation with my supervisor and my hours.
I’ve accumulated around 700 clinical hours at my current private practice. My supervisor how is also the owner has not been signing my weekly logs, and I also realized that I do not have a signed supervision agreement from when I started.
My supervisor has told me that he doesn’t sign the logs weekly/biweekly and only signs the paperwork at the end when an associate is finished with their hours or leaves. He said he has been supervising associates for a long time and that this is how he has always done it.
When I recently asked him to sign my paperwork, one of the first things he asked me was whether I was planning to quit. He told me that associates in the past had asked him to sign their paperwork and then quit, and that if I did that, it would break his trust. That conversation made me even more uncomfortable because the truth is that I am considering leaving the practice, but now I’m scared to quit before having documentation of my hours.
He also told me that if I wanted him to sign everything, I needed to make it as easy as possible for him rather than expecting him to print and organize everything. So I went through all of my hours, organized everything, prepared the paperwork for signature, and emailed it to him. I still haven’t received a response, and I’m getting very anxious.
Part of my concern comes from a friend who previously worked at the same practice with the same supervisor. When she left, she asked multiple times to have her hours signed, but she never received the signatures and eventually gave up.
At this point, I really want to leave the practice, but I’m scared of quitting and potentially having problems getting my 700 hours signed. I also don’t know what to do about not having a supervision agreement