Cross-Racial Supervision

Abstract

The counseling profession is becoming more aware of the importance of racial and cultural issues in counselor education and supervision. However, the majority of the current literature concerning racial and cultural dimensions is limited to cross-cultural counseling and assessment. Cross-racial issues have not been addressed widely within the supervision process. The purpose of this article is to examine the benefits and challenges related to cross-racial supervision, and discuss the significance of integrating racial identity development in the supervision process. A summary of the literature on cross-racial supervision will be presented and a developmental approach to cross-racial supervision between a white supervisor and a supervisee of color will be discussed.

Multicultural and Social Justice Competence in Clinical Supervision

“…One pressing question is how, as supervisors, we can assess our own level of competence in promoting social justice. Research indicates that supervisors are not always further along in their racial identity development than supervisees (Chang, Hays, & Shoffner, ; Cook, ; Helms, ; Jernigan et al, ). Recognizing this may encourage supervisor self‐awareness and ultimately supervisor competence if we intentionally pursue our own development as well as that of our supervisees.…”

Predictors of Broaching: Multicultural Competence, Racial Color Blindness, and Interpersonal Communication

“…Because counselors who subscribed to more racially color-blind attitudes predicted, on average, diminished ability to broach race, counselor educators and supervisors may wish to embed demonstrations and experiential activities for counselors to observe and rehearse broaching. Chang et al (2004) recommended the following questions to guide racial discussions in supervision (with our translations to the counseling context noted in brackets): "How much, if any, do you feel your racial heritage influences your interaction with your client [employer, spouse, friend, etc.]?" "What does it mean to be a person of color?"…”

Supervision in Spanish: Reflections From Supervisor-Trainee Dyads

“…Supervisor 2 (also Author 2, working with Trainee 2) was a European-American male, also a native speaker of English, who had acquired Spanish while living in Panama for two years. Thus, both dyads were cross-ethnic working relationships with non-Latina/o White supervisors who needed to maintain an awareness of their multiple levels of privilege (Chang, Hays, & Shoffner, 2004). However, the dyads did have some degree of common ground in terms of language.…”