Practicum Supervisors' Role in the Development of Counselling Psychology Graduate Students' Cultural and Social Justice Responsiveness

Abstract

Abstract: The importance of cultural and social justice responsiveness (CSJR) in counselling psychology training is no longer disputed. Training models that have been put forth are mainly conceptual and less is known about how to support students to translate theory to practice. To understand this process more clearly, this study elicited the experiences of 16 field supervisors who were supporting the development of CSJR in counselling psychology practicum students. The Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (ECIT) was employed to guide and analyze in-depth, open-ended qualitative interviews with clinical supervisors. To guide this study, three research questions were designed: 1) What supervision experiences are helpful to students’ development of CSJR? 2) What supervision experiences are unhelpful to students’ development of CSJR? 3) What supervision experiences would be desirable in students’ development of CSJR? These results are discussed in relation to current literature on CSJR, and implications and future directions are proposed.