A critical postcolonial and resilience-based framework of supervision in action.

Abstract

In this paper, we describe two critical events in clinical supervision between two counseling psychology trainees of color and a White supervisor that demonstrate the need and effectiveness of a supervisory approach that challenges the psychotherapeutic status quo, particularly within the context of our current sociopolitical climate. Using case materials and our reflections, we highlight the significant contributions of relational safety as espoused by a critical postcolonial supervision framework (Hernández & Mc-Dowell, 2010) in cultivating trainees' development as culturally congruent practitioners. This approach confronts hegemonic values of psychotherapy and integrates the cultural worlds of clients, clinicians, and supervisors. We conclude with practical suggestions for building relational safety within the supervisory relationship and future research avenues. Public Significance Statement Authors provide two case examples to exemplify the usefulness of challenging the cultural embeddedness of current psychotherapeutic practice and training when working with trainees of color and culturally diverse clients. This critical postcolonial and resilience-based approach specifically centers on developing strong, authentic, and caring therapeutic and supervisory relationships. This perspective to supervision and therapeutic practice facilitated the integration of clinicians' whole cultural selves and the development of innovative and culturally congruent practices with diverse clients.

Integrated supervision framework: A multicultural, social justice, and ecological approach.

“…The field of psychology is committed to the training and practice of multicultural- and social justice-oriented supervision (American Psychological Association [APA], 2014; Ramírez Stege et al, 2020; Watkins et al, 2019). Guidelines for clinical supervision in health service psychology (APA, 2014) document the need for competency-based and metatheoretical approaches to supervision in which both supervisor and supervisee attend to diversity-related issues.…”

“…These constructs are integral in exploring and addressing the role of power within supervision. Power can be defined as a multiplistic and nonstatic phenomenon that addresses the capital, authority, and control granted to individuals, communities, cultures, and systems that uphold dominant identities and structures of oppression and subjugation (see Crenshaw, 1989; French & Raven, 1959; Grzanka, 2019; Ramírez Stege et al, 2020).…”

“…Multicultural supervision is generally concerned with understanding how social context, ecosystems, and identities intersect and influence supervisory attitudes and beliefs, knowledge, skills, and actions (Inman & Ladany, 2014). Social justice supervision extends beyond multiculturalism by efforts to ameliorate social, cultural, political, economic, historical, and structural barriers related to power, oppression, inequity, and colonization (Hernández & McDowell, 2010; Ramírez Stege et al, 2020). Ecological supervision focuses on exploring how interrelating and bidirectional contextual factors and systems simultaneously influence and shape individuals and their development (Buchanan, 2020; Falicov, 2014).…”

Aprender Haciendo: Undergraduate Curriculum Development for a Latinx Mental Health Service-Learning Course

“…For the development of this service-learning course, the authors adopted a multicultural and critical post-colonial perspective to student learning that acknowledged the need to culturally ground psychological theory and practice with an understanding of the legacies of colonialism and oppression experienced by culturally diverse populations in the U.S. (American Psychological Association, 2017; Goodman et al, 2004; Hernández & McDowell, 2010; Ramírez Stege et al, 2020). Colonialism, as described here, is understood as the promotion of a dominant Euro-centered groups’ beliefs, values and cultural practices with the goal of eliminating or devaluing the experiences of indigenous and/or marginalized groups (Hernández-Wolfe, 2013; Hernández & McDowell, 2010).…”

The Worldview Genogram: A process model for enhancing diversity responsiveness and competence in education, training, and clinical supervision.

“…Increasingly, supervisory and treatment arrangements in clinical training involve dyadic and group matches of varying diversity configurations (Falendar & Shafranske, 2012, 2013; Falendar et al, 2014). Supervision has been shown to be the most ideal forum for implementing diversity training due to its correlation with satisfaction in training as whole (Benuto et al, 2019; Hooley, 2019; Ramírez Stege et al, 2020). However, the dearth of beneficent and practical ways to integrate training in diversity responsiveness, especially in supervision, remains troubling.…”