Abstract
The Supervisory Working Alliance (SWA) between Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) clinicians and their White or White-passing supervisors is shaped by not only the clinical components of supervision, but also the often-unspoken influences of racial identity and power within the supervisory dyad. A supervisor’s cultural humility and cultural comfort (Wilcox et al., 2023), willingness to self-educate on how their identity impacts their work (Burkhard et al., 2012), being knowledgeable about trauma informed care (Knight, 2017) and exhibiting confidence in vital race conversations (Lipscomb & Ashlely, 2017) all impact the supervisees experience of the SWA, especially the experience of BIPOC clinicians, within the SWA. This qualitative study explored BIPOC supervisee’s experience of supervision while being supervised by a White or White-passing supervisor and their perceptions of how the SWA was impacted. Seven participants, three licensed psychologists and four clinical or counseling doctoral students, who had at least two supervisory experiences being supervised by a White or White-passing supervisor while residing in Minnesota contributed to the study. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was used to identify six themes and 17 subthemes. Themes identified were: development as a supervisor, impact of identity discussion, supervision experience, supervision preference, supervisor cultural humility, and SWA. Future directions for research and implications and recommendations for clinical supervisors are provided.