Training and Supervision Across Disciplines to Engage in Cross-Cultural Competence and Responsiveness: Counseling and Family Therapy

Abstract

In this chapter, I explore the definitions of cultural competence and responsiveness in the counseling and family therapy fields. I outline professional competencies related to clinical training and supervision of counselors and family therapists in training based on my experience working with students and post-master’s supervisees for over 25 years, as well as my work in the past two decades researching cultural issues in supervision and the therapy room. A review of the education and supervision literature regarding cross-cultural competency will be provided as a launching point into discussions of more process-oriented perspectives in the learning paradigm. In this chapter, I explore the use of active voices in the integration of cultural responsiveness and responsibility in the educator/student and the supervisee/supervisor relationships via literature, case examples, and experiential exercises.