| Course | PSY 540 Clinical Supervision |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 6 |
| Paper type | Multicultural supervision case |
| Length | About 1,061 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Psychology and Addiction Studies |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PSY 540 Module 6
Culture in Two Relationships: Multicultural Supervision of a Case Misread as Resistance
Student Name
Psychology and Addiction Studies Program, Aspen University
PSY 540: Clinical Supervision
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Culture in Two Relationships: Multicultural Supervision of a Case Misread as Resistance
Kayla, the most experienced of Marisol's supervisees at the fictional Sandia Valley agency, raised a case in supervision with frustration. Her client, a Diné man in his fifties referred for depression after his wife's death, had missed three sessions in two months. Twice, he told her afterward, he had been helping his family prepare for and take part in ceremonies. Kayla, who is White and grew up in Ohio, described him as resistant and asked whether to discharge him. Marisol, her supervisor, is Mexican American and grew up in Albuquerque. This paper examines how Marisol should respond.
The Setting
New Mexico is home to many Native nations, including the Diné, Pueblo peoples and Apache nations, and a large Hispanic population with roots going back centuries. Sandia Valley's clients reflect that diversity, while several of its counselors, like Kayla, come from elsewhere. Cultural questions are therefore routine in supervision there, not occasional, and a supervisor who waits for them to arise will miss many.
Why Culture Belongs in Supervision
Culture enters supervision at two levels. It shapes the supervisee's work with clients: how problems are understood, what counts as help and how the counselor interprets what clients do. And it shapes the supervisory relationship itself, since supervisor and supervisee bring their own identities, assumptions and positions of power. A supervisor who attends only to the first level can miss how the second affects what the supervisee feels able to say.
Supervisor Multicultural Competence
Inman (2006) studied marriage and family therapy trainees and found that those who rated their supervisors as more multiculturally competent also reported stronger supervisory working alliances and greater satisfaction with supervision. Supervisor multicultural competence was not directly related to how well trainees addressed culture in their own case conceptualizations, which suggested that supervisors' competence may work largely through the relationship rather than transferring automatically to supervisees' skills.
Responsive and Unresponsive Supervision
Burkard et al. (2006) interviewed supervisees, both European American and supervisees of color, about events in cross-cultural supervision. In culturally responsive events, supervisors acknowledged, explored and supported attention to cultural issues, and supervisees described benefits for themselves, the supervisory relationship and their clients. In culturally unresponsive events, supervisors ignored, discounted or dismissed cultural issues, and supervisees described feeling hurt, unsafe and less willing to disclose, with negative effects on the relationship and sometimes on client care. Supervisees of color reported unresponsive events more often and with more lasting effects.
Constantine and Sue (2007) interviewed Black supervisees with White supervisors about racial microaggressions in supervision. Themes included supervisors invalidating racial and cultural issues, making stereotypic assumptions about Black clients and supervisees, avoiding giving performance feedback for fear of seeming racist, focusing mainly on weaknesses and offering culturally insensitive treatment recommendations. The study showed how supervision can harm through subtle, often unintended behavior.
| Responsive behavior | Unresponsive behavior |
|---|---|
| Raising culture openly, in both the case and the relationship | Waiting for the supervisee to raise it, or never raising it |
| Exploring what cultural practices mean to the client | Interpreting practices through the counselor's own norms |
| Acknowledging the supervisor's own identity and power | Treating the supervisor's view as culturally neutral |
| Giving honest feedback while attending to culture | Avoiding feedback, or focusing only on weaknesses |
Responding to the Case: The Client
Kayla's interpretation followed an unresponsive pattern: she read absences for ceremony through her own expectations of weekly attendance and labeled them resistance. Marisol's first task was to explore that reading with her. She asked what Kayla knew about the ceremonies and what they meant to her client. Kayla admitted she had not asked. Marisol suggested that, for a man grieving his wife, family ceremonies might be part of how he was healing rather than a retreat from it, and that the question was not whether to discharge him but how to fit counseling around what mattered to him. She was careful not to substitute her own assumptions about Diné practice for Kayla's; the point was for Kayla to ask the client himself. Kayla agreed to invite him to talk about the ceremonies and his family's role in his grief and to offer flexible scheduling around them.
Responding to the Case: The Supervisory Relationship
Marisol also broached culture in their own relationship. She noted that she and Kayla came from different backgrounds and that Marisol, as a Latina from New Mexico, had her own assumptions, including about Kayla's. She invited Kayla to say if cultural issues between them ever made supervision harder. Following Inman's finding that competence works through the relationship, Marisol saw this conversation as part of making Kayla more willing to bring cultural uncertainty into supervision rather than resolving it alone with a label. She also gave Kayla honest feedback that discharging the client would have been a significant error, avoiding the pattern Constantine and Sue described of withholding feedback to avoid discomfort.
What Happened Next
Two weeks later, Kayla reported that she had asked her client about the ceremonies. He had spoken for most of the session about his wife, his family and the place of ceremony in the year after a death. He said no counselor had asked before. They agreed to meet less often during ceremonial periods and more often between them. Kayla said she had assumed asking would be intrusive; instead it had become the most useful session they had had. Marisol used the moment to reflect with Kayla on how quickly an unfamiliar practice can be read as a symptom.
The Supervisor's Own Work
Marisol recognized that her own background did not make her expert on Diné culture, and that sharing a regional history with some clients did not substitute for asking. She committed to seeking consultation from a Diné colleague at a partner agency when cases raised questions she could not answer and to reviewing how she raised culture with each of her supervisees, not only with Kayla.
Conclusion
Culture shapes supervision at two levels, in the supervisee's work with clients and in the supervisory relationship. Inman's research links supervisor multicultural competence to the alliance and satisfaction, Burkard and colleagues show the harm of unresponsive supervision and Constantine and Sue name the microaggressions supervisees can experience. In this case, Marisol helped Kayla move from labeling a client to asking him, broached culture in their own relationship, gave honest feedback and examined her own position.
References
Burkard, A. W., Johnson, A. J., Madson, M. B., Pruitt, N. T., Contreras-Tadych, D. A., Kozlowski, J. M., Hess, S. A., & Knox, S. (2006). Supervisor cultural responsiveness and unresponsiveness in cross-cultural supervision. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(3), 288-301. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.3.288
Constantine, M. G., & Sue, D. W. (2007). Perceptions of racial microaggressions among Black supervisees in cross-racial dyads. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(2), 142-153. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.54.2.142
Inman, A. G. (2006). Supervisor multicultural competence and its relation to supervisory process and outcome. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 32(1), 73-85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2006.tb01589.x
What the PSY 540 Module 6 instructions ask for
The sixth module of PSY 540 typically asks for a paper or case on multicultural supervision. Follow the Module 6 instructions in your Aspen course; the people here are invented. Make the case that culture belongs in supervision, not only in counseling. Review research on supervisor multicultural competence and on what happens when supervisors respond well or poorly to culture. Work through a case that involves culture at more than one level. Describe specific supervisor behaviors, such as broaching cultural differences. Address the supervisor's own identity and power. Describe cultural groups with care and accuracy, and reference every source in APA 7. Avoid casting the supervisor as the cultural expert; often the most useful move is helping the supervisee ask the client.
How this PSY 540 Module 6 example is built
Kayla, a composite associate counselor at the Albuquerque center, tells her supervisor, Marisol, that a Diné client is "resistant" because he misses sessions during ceremonies. Inman's Journal of Marital and Family Therapy study links supervisor multicultural competence to the supervisory alliance and satisfaction. Burkard and colleagues' Journal of Counseling Psychology study describes responsive and unresponsive events in cross-cultural supervision. Constantine and Sue's study names microaggressions in supervision, such as dismissing cultural issues. A four-row table contrasts responsive and unresponsive supervisor behaviors. The case shows Marisol broaching culture with Kayla, reframing the absences and examining her own identity in the supervisory relationship. She also commits to consultation with a Diné colleague rather than relying on her own assumptions.
Where the marks sit in the PSY 540 Module 6 rubric
Multicultural supervision papers earn credit for applying research to a specific case at more than one level and for concrete supervisor behaviors rather than general commitments. This example addresses culture in the client's care and in the supervisory relationship. Research is reported accurately, including the harms of unresponsive supervision. The supervisor broaches culture directly rather than waiting for the supervisee to raise it. The case avoids stereotyping the client, treating his practices as his own and inviting him to explain them. The supervisor examines her own identity and power, which many papers omit. She gives honest feedback about the planned discharge rather than softening it, avoiding one of the microaggressions Constantine and Sue describe.
Common PSY 540 Module 6 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Multicultural supervision papers often focus only on the client's culture and ignore the supervisory relationship. Address both. Describe specific behaviors, such as broaching differences and asking about cultural meaning, not only attitudes. Avoid stereotyping groups; describe practices as belonging to particular people and invite them to explain. Examine the supervisor's own identity and power. Use research that includes supervisees' experiences of harm, not only best practices. Use the names communities use for themselves, and check that the cultural details in your case are accurate rather than assumed. Remember that supervisors from minority backgrounds also hold power over their supervisees and can make assumptions about them; identity does not exempt anyone from the work.
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PSY 540 Module 6 questions, answered
What does PSY 540 Module 6 usually ask for?
Aspen's PSY 540 covers multicultural supervision in this module, so a paper or case addressing culture in supervision and counseling is typical. Check your Module 6 prompt.
Does supervisor multicultural competence matter?
Inman found that supervisees who rated their supervisors as more multiculturally competent reported stronger working alliances and greater satisfaction with supervision.
What is culturally unresponsive supervision?
Burkard and colleagues describe supervisors ignoring, discounting or dismissing cultural issues, with negative effects on supervisees, the relationship and sometimes clients.
Where can I find a free PSY 540 Module 6 sample paper?
The full case paper is on this page: research on multicultural supervision, a table of supervisor behaviors and a case misread as resistance.
What does broaching mean in supervision?
Raising cultural differences or the role of culture directly and openly, rather than waiting for the supervisee or client to bring it up.