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Multicultural Complexity: an Intersectional Lens for Clinical Supervision

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Abstract

The author discusses the need for counselor educators and supervisors to promote the intersectional nature of identities in counselor trainees and supervisees, especially as supervision serves as the vanguard for professional development and provides a more individually tailored space. This article introduces the concept of multicultural complexity, along with its current dearth in the counseling literature. The utility of multicultural complexity is explored, and recommendations made in the form of sample action plans (Appendix) regarding how counselor educators and supervisors can further incorporate the concept into the practice of clinical supervision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Human Services, Syracuse University, 440 Sims Hall, 4th Floor, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    Harvey Charles Peters

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  1. Harvey Charles Peters
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Correspondence to Harvey Charles Peters.

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Appendix

Appendix

Sample Action Plans

The following are suggested action plans that can be incorporated to further develop and foster multicultural complexity in the process of clinical supervision.

Fostering Supervisor Multicultural Complexity

  • Explore one’s own social locations and the sociopolitical and sociohistorical influences on such identities.

  • Build upon an ability to critically assess, conceptualize, and enact supervision that utilizes multicultural complexity.

  • Develop an understanding and commitment to the experiences and meaning-making that has emerged from the margins.

  • Establish an action plan regarding how to incorporate social locations in conjunction with sociopolitical and sociohistorical factors in the practice of clinical supervision.

  • Acknowledge the supervisor’s power and influence on the co-construction of knowledge within the supervisory relationship.

  • Acknowledge supervisees’ locations, experiences, and meaning-making that has emerged from the margins.

  • Engage in the practice of continually expanding upon one’s multicultural competence.

  • Engage in reflexive practices exploring one’s identities and positionality and their influence in the process of supervision.

Fostering Supervisees’ Multicultural Complexity

  • Explore supervisees’ social locations.

  • Explore supervisees’ understanding of sociopolitical and sociohistorical factors that influence them as people and as professional counselors.

  • Explore and expand upon supervisees’ understanding of social locations in conjunction with sociopolitical and sociohistorical factors.

  • Build upon supervisees’ ability to integrate a lens that utilizes multicultural complexity.

  • Develop supervisees’ ability to assess, conceptualize, and enact multicultural complexity into their work with clients.

  • Develop supervisees’ acknowledgement of their power and influence on the counselor-client relationship.

  • Develop supervisees’ commitment to experiences and meaning-making that has emerged from the margins.

  • Develop supervisees’ acknowledgement of clients’ social locations, experiences, and meaning-making that has emerged from the margins.

  • Frame multicultural complexity as something that requires supervisees to be reflexive, as well as to have a continued investment in reading, training, and supervision.

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Peters, H.C. Multicultural Complexity: an Intersectional Lens for Clinical Supervision. Int J Adv Counselling 39, 176–187 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-017-9290-2

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