Hi all- I need some advice/feedback/guidance on a matter. I work in a group private practice. Trying to keep details as vague as possible.

I am seeing a client who has had a past of safety concerns, but not while they’ve been seeing me. However, client asked if two of their adult children can have contact with me every so often to make sure their parent is compliant with treatment and to get brief updates regarding safety. One of these children has a close relationship with client and the other is a bit estranged (they have some contact and are working on their relationship). It’s obvious my client cares about their relationship with estranged child and says their child also cares about their relationship which is why they’d like updates every so often on their parent. Client fully consented and signed appropriate releases, and we had a lengthy discussion about what client is okay with me sharing vs. not sharing. My client also says they feel better having this bit of accountability in place. Basically the phone calls would just say frequency of sessions, whether they are compliant with attending sessions, and if there are any concerns with suicidality - that’s it. There have not been any safety/suicidality concerns since I started seeing them for past few months.

The issue is, my supervisor thinks I should not talk to the estranged child (EC), at least not alone. They feel the client needs to be present for that conversation and that I absolutely should not talk to EC alone. I’ve had a couple conversations with client about my supervisors concerns and my client says they don’t want to be pushed to do something they don’t want to do- I’ve voiced this to my supervisor but they are not budging and feel I need to do this phone call together with client and EC (but not with the other child) or not at all. My client explicitly expressed they do not want to be involved in either of these phone calls and don’t see why they should be- they said they fully trust me to follow the releases and HIPAA. I have discussed this with the client over two sessions now, and possibly a third one, and I just feel like I’m in a very uncomfortable position where I don’t agree with my supervisor and am trying to act in the best interest of my client. I am worried about the impacts this will have on my client.

Am I in the wrong here with advocating/defending my client? Is there something I am missing regarding ethics/well-being of my client? Is my supervisor right in that I shouldn’t do this without the client? I am unsure how to proceed and would appreciate any insight or feedback.