Culture in Clinical Supervision: Research and Evidence

Abstract

Discussing culture is central to the supervision process for some supervisors and an opportunity to enter a discussion filled with landmines for others. Such different approaches to supervision can come to the fore as the relationship between a supervisor and supervisee evolves. The intention of this series is to present concise summaries of cutting-edge research and practical applications in family therapy and systemic practices. I teach, practice, and research couple and family therapy and supervision as an AAMFT Approved Supervisor and faculty member in a CACREPaccredited master's program in Colorado. As a second-generation Canadian of northern European heritage who was born and raised in Canada and identifies as a cis-gendered, gay male, integrating culture into my work is not a choice but a fact of my everyday life. This chapter draws on other supervision-related research I am conducting and summarizes the themes in four areas: an overview of the research, what has been reported as effective for addressing culture in supervision, what the challenges are for addressing culture in supervision, and the research limitations. While there is substantive research available in languages other than English, I only have the capacity to review and present English-language research. Before reporting about the research, a note about the terminology has been used throughout this chapter. The research reviewed for this chapter included students and professors in graduate programs, licensure candidates and their supervisors, and mental health professionals involved in supervision activities post-licensure. Curiously, there is rarely a reference in the research literature to what supervision training supervisors received or the route by which they became designated as supervisors. This dearth may be due to the varied native of the supervisor designation across professions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)