A Study Exploring the Supervisory Relationship in the Context of Culturally Responsive Supervision: A Supervisee’s Perspective

Clinical supervision is a form of relationship-based education facilitating thedevelopment of clinical competence and ethical therapeutic practice. Evidence suggests that clinical supervision is not immune to the social inequalities inherent in contemporary society. However, there appears to be a scarcity of empirical literature exploring the impact of these variables in supervision and the development of cultural competence in supervision.Paper 1 presents a systematic review and thematic synthesis exploring the impact of racism experienced within cross-racial clinical supervision. Findings from 14 included studies highlighted the harmful effects of racism on practitioners from racially minoritised backgrounds. Themes were related to emotional distress, ruptures within the supervisory relationship, power imbalances, a lack of cultural competence development and coping strategies. Further implications for clinical and research practice are discussed.Paper 2 presents a quantitative study that aimed to investigate supervisee perceptions of cultural responsivity in supervision and the quality of the supervisory relationship. The study explored how perceptions may vary when supervisors and supervisees are racially/ethnically similar or different. Trainee and qualified supervisees (N = 222) completed an online survey exploring their perceptions of cultural discussions, supervisory relationships, and acculturation. Supervisees from Racial/Ethnic Minoritised groups in dyads with White supervisors perceived their supervision as the least culturally responsive, with lower quality supervisory relationships. Greater perceived cultural responsivity in supervision was found to significantly predict better supervisory relationships. However, this was not moderated by acculturation to mainstream British culture. Findings and essential recommendations for future research and current practice are discussed

Dataset: Culturally Responsive Supervision

Thesis title: A Study Exploring the Supervisory Relationship in the Context of Culturally Responsive Supervision: A Supervisee&rsquo;s Perspective Quantitative and qualitative survey data on supervisee perspectives of culturally responsive supervision and their supervisory relationship. The data was collected by the primary author and can be viewed in SPSS. </span

Supervisee perspectives on improving cultural responsivity in clinical supervision

Culturally responsive supervision has been shown to improve the supervisory relationship and supervision outcomes. This article considers the perspectives of 131 supervisees (trainee/qualified Clinical Psychologists, Counselling Psychologists and CBT Therapists) to better understand what may be required to improve culturally responsive supervisory practices. Supervisees completed an online survey and opted into responding to five free text questions. A qualitative approach was used to further explore their answers using thematic analysis. Five major themes were found from the data: integrating race/ethnicity into the profession, attending to the supervisory relationship, increasing cultural competence, addressing the power dynamic, and promoting cultural humility. It was proposed that the supervisor needs to initiate and lead cultural conversations safely and sensitively, particularly as supervisees may be at varying stages of their own cultural development. Supervisees also felt that supervisors should take responsibility to develop their personal and professional cultural identity due to the existing power dynamics inherent within the supervisory relationship. The responsibility of training programmes and professional bodies was also highlighted in integrating cultural responsivity into clinical training on a wider level.<br/