Understanding the Experience of Discussing Race and Racism During Clinical Supervision for Black Music Therapy Students

The experiences of Black music therapy students discussing race and racism in clinical supervision were explored in this study. Participants included 5 Black music therapy students with at least one semester of supervised fieldwork. Recruitment occurred through varied methods utilizing professional networks and snowballing. Data included written survey responses and individual interviews. Utilizing a thematic analysis approach, researchers reviewed that each participant’s dataset generated preliminary codes. Next, researchers grouped codes and compared groupings across datasets. Researchers reached an agreement on 7 themes. Theme 1 addressed the immense vulnerability it takes for Black students to discuss race in and out of supervision. Theme 2 described defensive behaviors from white supervisors, staff members, and peers in response to discussing race. Theme 3 revealed the significance of validating that racism happens to Black students. Theme 4 noted the power supervisors wield over Black students, the privilege white supervisors possess, instances of racism from supervisors, and retaliation from supervisors in response to conversations of race. Theme 5 uncovered a pattern of white supervisors “acknowledging” their privilege and not acting on this self-discovery. Theme 6 examined participants’ feeling like an outsider and supporting themselves in their education. Theme 7 addressed exasperation due to an unchanging oppressive system. Findings connect to the emerging literature on culturally responsive supervision, provide new insights into the supervision of Black music therapy students, and identify the need for change.