Acknowledging Intersectional Identity in Supervision: The Multicultural Integrated Supervision Model

Abstract

Supervision is considered a critical component in the development of mental health professionals. Thus, to ensure ethical services are provided to clients, supervisors should integrate multicultural perspectives within supervision. Multicultural and social justice principles, although present in the literature, have not been successfully incorporated into previous process and developmental models as viable enhancers to practitioner growth. The multicultural integrated supervision model presented in this article provides supervisees, supervisors, and counselor educators with methods that elicit deeper appreciation for culturally appropriate relationships and interactions. La supervisión se considera un componente crítico de la capacitación de profesionales en la salud mental. Por lo tanto, para garantizar que se proporcionan servicios éticos a los clientes, los supervisores deberían integrar perspectivas multiculturales en la supervisión. Los principios multiculturales y de justicia social, aunque se encuentran en la literatura, no se han incorporado con éxito en los modelos anteriores de procesos y desarrollo como potenciadores viables del crecimiento profesional de los consejeros. El modelo de supervisión multicultural integrada que se presenta en este artículo proporciona a los supervisados, supervisores y educadores de consejeros unos métodos que suscitan una apreciación más profunda por las relaciones e interacciones culturalmente apropiadas.

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

“…It is also essential to address the mental health and ecological needs of persons and communities impacted by such forms of oppression (Bruner et al, 2019; Ramírez Stege et al, 2020). Arguably, supervision incorporating multicultural and social justice approaches can provide educators and supervisors with a dynamic framework to address and build competence in working with diverse cultures, marginalization, colonization, oppression, privilege, and ecologies (Arczynski & Morrow, 2017; Dollarhide et al, 2021; Mitchell & Butler, 2021). In addition, this type of approach has assisted the shift from a deficit-focused framework for conceptualizing those within the margins to a more holistic and resilience-based approach (Hernández & McDowell, 2010; Peters, 2017; Singh & Chun, 2010; Tarshis & Baird, 2021).…”

“…Highlighting and centring culture and justice issues in supervision has led to the application of postmodern and critical literature, frameworks, and practices. One emerging framework used to discuss the multiplicity of identity, social justice, power, and marginalized and privileged social structures is evident in the theory of intersectionality (Chan et al, 2018; Crenshaw, 1989), which is beginning to be synthesized into the supervision literature (Hernández & McDowell, 2010; Mitchell & Butler, 2021; Peters, 2017; Tarshis & Baird, 2021). Likewise, scholars have begun to develop postcolonial and decolonial approaches to supervision which aim to disrupt the hegemonic, Eurocentric, individualistic, and majoritarian values and discourses that influence the origin, theories, and process of clinical supervision (Hernández & McDowell, 2010; Ramírez Stege et al, 2020; Singh & Chun, 2010).…”

Principles of anti‐oppression: A critical analytic synthesis

“…This evolution may extend the fourth and fifth forces of counseling (Peters & Luke, 2021a; Ratts et al., 2016) or serve as a sign post marker of the sixth force of counseling. More generally, the development of these 10 principles of anti‐oppression also aligns with recent scholarship integrating and demanding the inclusion of critical and intersectionality within counseling and counselor education to address the multiplistic forms of systemic and structural discrimination and oppression for marginalized persons and communities across counseling (Ali & Lee, 2019), leadership and advocacy (Peters, Chan, et al., 2022; Peters et al., 2020; Peters & Luke, 2021b), research (Chan et al., 2019; Hays & Singh, 2023; Sharma et al., 2021), supervision (Mitchell & Butler, 2021; Peters, 2017; Peters, Bruner, et al., 2022), and teaching (Chan et al., 2018; Shannon, 2020). The results of the current study further the scholarship by extending and centering the focus on anti‐oppression, which parallels and differs from the extant counseling literature.…”

Introduction to the Special Issue

“…The framework of intersectionality has become a mainstay of counseling research and practice, given its theoretical underpinnings in social justice (see Chan & Erby, 2018;Mitchell & Butler, 2021). As the framework becomes more visibly mainstreamed into the counseling profession, intersectionality promulgates a social justice ethos (Collins & Bilge, 2020) that links cohesively with its intentions of an active social justice agenda and underscores grassroots efforts for activism and advocacy (Collins, 2019).…”