| The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of Asian foreign-born therapists of supervision with European-American supervisors. Three main research questions were addressed: (a) What was the experience of Asian foreign-born therapists in cross-cultural supervision with European-American supervisors? (b) What challenges did the Asian foreign-born supervisees experience in supervision with the European-American supervisor? (c) How did differences in culture influence the supervisory process and relationship between the European-American supervisor and the Asian foreign-born supervisee? A qualitative approach, specifically phenomenology, was used in this study. The data collection process consisted of in-depth interviews with 7 participants guided by open-ended questions about their supervisory experiences. The data were analyzed through the methodology of phenomenological reduction.;The results of this research indicated that the Asian foreign-born therapists' experiences of cross-cultural supervision with European-American supervisors varied from a positive and supportive experience to a challenging and difficult one. Findings revealed that foreign-born trainee level of acculturation was likely to affect the supervisory working alliance, because cultural and language barriers in supervisory dyads might prevent the development of a positive supervisory working alliance. As the foreign-born trainees proceeded in their clinical training, they became more acculturated, their language and cultural barriers decreased, and their level of clinical competency increased. As a result, their supervisory alliance tended to be more positive and collaborative. This study also revealed that both the supervisor's general competency and multicultural competency affected the Asian foreign trainee's supervisory experiences and working alliance with European-American supervisors.;Cultural differences made a significant impact on the process and the relationship in the cross-cultural supervision between the Asian foreign-born trainees and the European-American supervisors. Specifically, the cultural values the Asian foreign-born trainees grew up with affected their relationship with European-American supervisors. This study also shed light on the dynamic process of cross-cultural supervision between the European-American supervisors and the Asian foreign-born trainees that resulted from supervisor assumptions related to ethnicity, culture, and gender. The results of this study also indicated that the skill difficulties and deficits of Asian foreign supervisees may be caused by three contextual factors: working in a novel treatment modality, working with a new population, and working in a novel clinical setting, when the supervisees were in the early stages of their clinical training as foreign-born trainees. |
