Multicultural Events in Supervision and Counseling and Trainee Multicultural Competence

Abstract

The current study qualitatively examined the moments when multicultural issues were discussed explicitly in two supervision dyads and two counseling dyads, and explored these events in relation to trainees' multicultural competence. Therapy outcome, satisfaction with counseling and supervision, and other variables were explored. There were few multicultural events in all the dyads except the second supervisory dyad. Multicultural events in supervision were generally brief and shallow, had no noticeable effect on the session, and more frequently involved discussion of culture, as opposed to gender, race/ethnicity, or other multicultural issues. Generally, multicultural events in counseling were moderately deep and lengthy, had a positive effect on the session, and most often involved discussion of gender as a multicultural issue. The client's interpersonal relationships were a consistent theme among the multicultural events. Limitations of this study as well as implications for practice and research are discussed.