Citation

Ebubedike N, Callanan M, Oldershaw A. Clin. Psychol. Psychother. 2024; 31(3): e3011.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/cpp.3011

PMID

38785413

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Research suggests that cross-cultural supervision can be prone to microaggressions with deleterious effects for ethno-racial minorities. There are currently no known studies examining the impact of racial microaggressions in supervision on qualified psychologists. This study aimed to explore Black psychologists' experiences of microaggressions in supervision with a White supervisor and their impact.

METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 individuals who had completed clinical or counselling psychology doctoral training. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

RESULTS: Three superordinate themes and 12 subthemes were derived from the analysis. The superordinate themes were: 'It's the subtle things', 'It's an ordeal' and 'Surviving Whiteness in psychology'. The findings illustrate the complex nature of racial microaggressions and their profound and lasting impact on individuals. The cumulative impact of these experiences resulted in significant negative psychological outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that there are common microaggressions that recur in supervision. Encountering microaggressions impeded the supervisory relationship, supervision and professional development. Clinical implications include recommendations for including multicultural competency in psychology trainings and ongoing professional development plans.

Language: en

Keywords

*Black or African American/psychology; Adult; Aggression/psychology; Attitude of Health Personnel; competency; Cultural Competency/psychology; Female; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; microaggressions; Middle Aged; multicultural; psychology; Psychology; Qualitative Research; racism; Racism/psychology; supervision; wellbeing; White People/psychology/statistics & numerical data