Supervision With East Asian International Supervisees: Unfolding Unspoken Complexities

Abstract

East Asian international supervisees possess a cluster of cultural values that are unique to their ethnic traditions, social structure, and Eastern philosophies. They commonly encounter cross-cultural clashes in Western therapy and supervision settings with their clients, colleagues, and supervisors. To address the supervisees' unique acculturation experiences, a supervisor must provide culturally responsive supervision where the supervisees can critically examine the influence of cultural experiences on self-of-the-therapist. The authors used autoethnography as the methodology to present their supervision stories, which include challenging clinical examples and collective reflections, to highlight unique issues they encountered in the United States. Clinical implications are provided to develop effective and culturally responsive supervision.