Incorporating Multiculturalism in Clinical Supervision

Clinical supervision is an important step for new counselors and a valuable ongoing process for many practitioners. We spoke with experienced supervisor, educator, and practitioner Holly Sawyer, PhD, NCC, LPC, CAADC, SAP, about the importance of multiculturalism in supervision.

Why is multiculturalism important in supervision? How does it impact the supervision session?   

Cultural competence and knowledge and awareness of the cultural complexity of the contemporary world or multiculturalism is extremely important in supervision. The list is endless, but let’s start with learning and understanding of the intersectionality of culture and that there are cultures within a culture. For example, Black people are not a monolithic people and nor are Hispanics or Native Americans. Without multiculturalism, people are allowed to uphold their biases. This can really damage the therapeutic alliance. People assume often, so the best way to learn is to come from a place of curiosity.

Can you tell us a bit about your work with multicultural or culturally sensitive supervision?  

The way I provide supervision is to make sure that my supervisees understand and see race as a part of one’s identity. When we explore a person’s race as a part of their identity, we look at the culture norms of that person and how it can impact the client/therapist relationship as it relates to behavior, substance use treatment, process addictions, etc. Look at ways the supervisee can support their client of color while assessing for any internal biases, privileges, or microaggressions that can come up in the therapy room. A lot of my supervisees do not look like me; however, they work with primarily Black and Hispanic folk, so multiculturalism and culturally sensitive supervision are extremely important. My supervisees tell me that is why they sought me out, so they can learn how to be more inclusive. It’s the foundation of my supervisory style and model of delivery. 

How does incorporating multiculturalism into supervision help the supervisee grow?  

When multiculturalism is embedded in supervision, it allows for a deeper dive into the supervisee’s approach with the client—how they show up in session—and provides them with tools that they otherwise would not have. It also facilitates a deeper growth, authenticity, and sensitivity that otherwise would not have been nourished.  

What are some common multicultural and diversity challenges or barriers that come up in supervision?  

I don’t like to label someone’s growth process as a “challenge” or “barrier” because they are often learning what they don’t know. One thing I like to do is draw on a specific definition of cultural humility by Tervalon and Murray-Garcia (1998): “A lifelong process of self-reflection and self-critique whereby the individual not only learns about another’s culture, but one starts with an examination of her/his own beliefs and cultural identities.” When we start here, oftentimes, supervisees will have to unlearn some things they were taught that do not align with multiculturalism. Often, this means decolonizing and decentering oneself. 

How do you help counselors recognize and address microaggressions that they may inadvertently use when working with their clients?   

The best way I help counselors recognize and address microaggressions is during case consultation time in supervision. Microaggressions can be verbal or nonverbal, and when I hear the type of microaggression (e.g., microassault, microinsult, or microinvalidation), I educate the supervisee on how it was a microaggression. I also work on placing them in the shoes of the person that was on the receiving end of the microaggression.  

How can supervisors incorporate multiculturalism into their work?  

It is important to have a list of competencies that you and your supervisee collaboratively identify and navigate during clinical supervision, but these competencies have to be culturally based. Supervisors must be willing to encourage a supervisee to identify any biases they may have. Supervisors must be able to check their own biases in order to help develop their supervisee’s cultural inclusivity. Supervisors can use and incorporate a curriculum or texts to guide supervision if they feel stuck or just to provide an enhanced learning and supervision experience. Supervision should also address the culture of the client being served, culture of the counselor in supervision, cultural issues of the agency, and other contextual factors. It is your responsibility to address your supervisee’s beliefs, attitudes, and biases about cultural and contextual variables to advance their professional development and promote quality client care. Avoiding cultural conversations can be perceived as a microaggression. 

How can a supervisor become competent in multicultural practices? 

Being a Black woman and having experienced microaggressions—which I still do today—that has been the biggest training. I present across the country on microaggressions. In my private practice, Life First Therapy, I specifically work with Black women who experience microaggressions in the workplace and help them identify healthy ways to cope instead of misusing substances or developing a behavioral addiction. My experience helps me educate people who do and do not look like me. I educate them on what it looks and sounds like, so they are aware. Oftentimes, people are not aware they were on the receiving end of a microaggression. 

A supervisor can become competent in multicultural practices by educating themselves through trainings and lived experiences of people of color. However, those experiences, once shared, must be believed or else microaggressions come into supervision. The supervisor should use care to identify the competencies necessary for all counselors to work with diverse individuals and navigate intercultural communities. This in turn helps the supervisor learn about multiculturalism and assists counselors in developing these competencies. Supervisors can provide evaluation criteria to determine whether their supervisees have met minimal competency standards for effective and relevant practice.  

In all models of supervision, it is helpful to identify culturally or contextually centered models or approaches and find ways of tailoring the models to specific cultural and diversity factors. Issues to consider are: explicitly addressing diversity of supervisees (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation) and the specific factors associated with these types of diversity; explicitly involving supervisees’ concerns related to particular client diversity (e.g., those whose culture, gender, sexual orientation, and other attributes differ from those of the supervisee) and addressing specific factors associated with these types of diversity; and explicitly addressing supervisees’ issues related to effectively navigating services in intercultural communities and effectively networking with agencies and institutions.  

Is there anything else you would like readers to know about multicultural supervision?  

Supervision is necessary to improve client care, develop the professionalism of clinical personnel, and impart and maintain ethical standards in the field. As a clinical supervisor, you are helping the supervisee to examine and reflect on the work they do and explore ways of maintaining and improving quality and efficiency for the good of the client. Creating a culturally inclusive supervisor–supervisee relationship can further help your supervisee express their feelings and concerns openly as an individual in their work and not solely based on their race. Doing this can also help your supervisee develop new insights and perspectives on ways to manage as a clinician. As a clinical supervisor, develop your own style of cultural inclusivity that includes trainings, learning from your own experiences, developing new knowledge, and understanding what the supervisee–supervisor relationship can offer from persons that do not look like you. 

Holly Sawyer, PhD, NCC, LPC, CAADC, SAP, is the director of the Master’s in Addictions Counseling program and assistant clinical professor in the Department of Counseling and Family Therapy at Drexel University, in Philadelphia. Prior to her employment at Drexel University, Dr. Sawyer was a clinical director at an intensive outpatient treatment facility and clinical supervisor at a methadone clinic. For 20 years, she has been teaching in the areas of K–12, adult basic education, and higher education. Dr. Sawyer is also an author and international mental health public speaker. She’s been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, and Philadelphia’s Fox News 29.