multicultural connections: using stories to transcend cultural boundaries in supervision

206 journalofMulticulturalcounselinganddevelopMent•october2009•vol.37

©2009americancounselingassociation.allrightsreserved.

Multiculturalconnections:usingstoriestotranscend

culturalBoundariesinsupervisionCarolA.Sommer,EmilyC.Derrick,MarcB.Bourgeois,

DaphneH.Ingene,JiWoongYang,andCherylA.Justice

storieshavelongbeenusedinvariousculturesandsettingstohelpmakemeaningandenhanceawareness.theauthorsdescribehowreflectiononanddiscussionofmythsandfairytalesinsupervisionmayhelptranscendculturalboundariesandincreasemulticulturalunderstanding.

lashistoriassehanutilizadodurantemuchotiempoendiversasculturasyescenariosparafacilitarlacomprensióndesignificadoyaumentarelniveldeconciencia.losautoresdescribencómolareflexiónyladiscusióndemitosycuentosenlasupervisiónpuedenayudaratrascenderbarrerasculturalesyelevarelentendimientomulticultural.

Storieshavelongassistedindividualsandculturesinmakingmeaningof experience. Recently, stories have also been used in supervisiontofacilitatesuperviseegrowth(Anderson&Holmes,2007;Crocket,

2004;London&Tarragona,2007;Sax,2006;Sommer&Cox,2003;Ward&Sommer,2006).ThequestionofhowstoriesfromdiverseculturescouldbeusedinsupervisiontotranscendculturalboundariesbecamethefocusofanongoingdialogueamongmembersoftheSupervisionResearchInterestGroupattheUniversityofMississippi.Thisisadiversegroupconsistingofafemalefacultymember(firstauthor)andthreefemale(second,fourth,andsixthauthors)andtwomale(thirdandfifthauthors)doctoralstudents.MembersrepresentvariousregionsoftheUnitedStates,SouthKorea,andHong Kong. At the time of this writing, we found no literature that ad-dressed theunique intersectionof stories, supervision,andmulticulturalcompetency.Inthisarticle,weofferbackgroundinformationregardingtheneed formulticultural competency in supervision, the valueof reflectivepracticesincounseloreducation,thepracticeofnarrativesupervision,andtheuseofstoriesasmeaning-makingtools.Eachoftheseareascontributestoourdiscussionofthreestoriesfromdiverseculturesalongwithanecdotalevidence of how participants at an international conference respondedtothesestories.Suggestionsforincorporatingculturallydiversestoriesincounseloreducationcurriculumareincluded.

CarolA.Sommer,EmilyC.Derrick,MarcB.Bourgeois,DaphneH.Ingene,JiWoongYang,andCherylA.Justice,allatDepartmentofLeadershipandCounselorEducation,UniversityofMississippi.CherylA.JusticeisnowatDepartmentofCounselingandEducationalPsychology,MississippiStateUniversity.Correspondenceconcerning this article should beaddressed toCarolA. Sommer,Department ofLeadershipandCounselorEducation,SchoolofEducation,UniversityofMississippi,143GuytonHall,POBox1848,University,MS38677(e-mail:[email protected]).

journalofMulticulturalcounselinganddevelopMent•october2009•vol.37 207

multicultural competence and supervision

In 1992, Sue, Arredondo, and McDavis published a call for multiculturalcompetenceincounselors.Currently,multiculturalsupervisionhasbecomeapopulartopic(Constantine,2001;Dressel,Consoli,Kim,&Atkinson,2007;Faubert&Locke,2003;Nelsonetal.,2006;Roysircar,Arredondo,Fuertes,Ponterotto,&Toporek,2003;Toporek,Ortega-Villalobos,&Pope-Davis,2004).Garrettetal.(2001)suggestedthattwosignificantissuesfacingsupervisorsareidentifyingthemosteffectivemethodofdeveloping“supervisorswhoaremulticulturallycompetentandresponsive”andidentifyingthemosthelpfulwayforsupervisorsto“fosterthemulticulturaldevelopmentofsupervisees”(p.151).Diversity-sensitivesupervisionprovidesthesupervisorydyadoppor-tunitiestoreflectonpersonalmulticulturalawarenessandtoexplorehowthecounselor–clientrelationshipisinfluencedbymulticulturalnuances.

Professional codes and standards emphasize the importance of multicul-tural competence. The American Counseling Association’s (ACA; 2005)ACACodeofEthicshasspecifiedthatcounseloreducatorsshould“infusemul-ticultural/diversitycompetencyintheirtrainingandsupervisionpractices”(Standard, F.11.c.), and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling andRelated Educational Programs’ (2008) 2009 Standards have continued torequiretheinfusionofmulticulturalcounselingthroughoutthecurriculum.Assupervisorsdeterminehowtomeetmulticulturalstandards,theymayfindthatknowledgeofmodelsofidentitydevelopmentandsummariesofvariouscultures’experiencesalonemaynotbeadequate.Roysircar,Gard,Hubbell,andOrtega(2005)notedthatexperientialtrainingmaybeabettermethodfor helping counseling professionals develop multicultural competencies.Suchtrainingcanprovidetraineeswithopportunitiesforself-reflectionandunderstandingofvariousworldviews.Wesuggestthatsharingwell-knownsto-riesfromdiverseculturesmightbeoneexperientialwayofbringingtextbookknowledgetolife.Tounderstandwhythisisimportant,theuseofreflectivepracticesmustbeexplored.

the value of reflective practicesIncounselorpreparation,experientialmethodsincreasinglyhavebeenvaluedasawaytoenhancedidacticortraditionalteachingstrategies(Abreu,GimChung,&Atkinson,2000;Nelson&Neufeldt,1998;Tromski&Doston,2003).Suchactivitiesparticularlyhavebeenreportedashelpfulinincreasingmulti-culturalunderstanding(Kim&Lyons,2003;Roysircaretal.,2005;Roysircar,Sandhu,&Bibbins,2003).Forinstance,Torres,Ottens,andJohnson(1997)notedthatrespondentsintheirmulticulturalstudyindicatedthatexperiential


activitiesweremorevaluableandinsightfultotheirlearningthanwereintel-lectualactivities.Furthermore,TylerandGuth(1999)purportedtheuseofexperientiallearninginmulticulturalclassestofocusonboththecognitiveandaffectivedomainsthatarenecessarytodevelopawareness,knowledge,andskillsinstudents.

Inthelate1980s,Francis(1989)questionedwhyconceptualthinkingisoften considered to be valid knowledge whereas personal experience orinterpretationisviewedasinvalidknowledge.Today,thevalueofpersonalreflection,experience,andinterpretationinherentinmeaningmakingplacesthelearnerinapositiontococreateknowledge.Assuch,thedevelopmentofpersonalawareness,particularlyintermsofmulticulturalcompetence,requiresactiveparticipationandself-reflection(Kim&Lyons,2003;Roy-sircar, 2004). The knowledge from such experiential processes requiresmore timeand can seemdisorganized,but it canmake formore lastingproceduralknowledge(Nelson&Neufeldt,1998).Storiedsupervisionisanexampleofanexperience-basedlearningactivitythatcanofferacreativemeansforincreasingself-reflectionandmulticulturalunderstanding.Nar-rativeapproaches,suchasstoriedsupervision,provideanaturalinvitationtousestoriesandtheirmultipleinterpretations.

narrative supervision and multicultural sensitivity

Muchofthehistoryofthehumanracehasbeenpasseddownthroughoraltradition.MythologistJosephCampbell(1974)notedthatculturallydiversestoriesoftensharesimilarcharactersandthemes.Inreferringtothesestories,heofferedthatthey“areinoriginone;onealsointheirheritageofsymbols;differenthowever,intheirhistories,interpretations,applications,emphases,andlocalaims”(Campbell,1974,p.75).Aroundtheworld,fromtheearliestyearsofchildhood,peoplearetaughtlessonsandmoralsthroughtheartofstories.Asadults,peopleorganizetheirdailylivesandmakemeaningofeventsbyusingnarratives.AndersonandHolmes(2007)suggestedthatindividualsalsodeveloppersonalmythsasawaytoclarifywheretheyhavebeen,tomakemeaningofwhattheyaredoing,andtoinfluencewheretheyaregoing.

If stories are an integral part of human existence and if storytelling is afamiliarmodeofdeliveringinformationandconstructingmeaning,thenus-ingthismethodinsupervisionseemsnatural.Crocket(2004)suggestedthatsupervision isrichwiththetellingandretellingofstories.Multiplestoriesarebeingtoldatanypoint;theclient’s,thesupervisee’s,andthesupervisor’sstoriesareallessential.Eachtellingandretellingisshapedthroughtheinter-actionbetweenthesupervisorandsupervisee(Crocket,2004).LondonandTarragona(2007)notedthat“boththerapyandsupervisionarelanguage-or


meaning-generatingsystemsinwhichparticipantsattempttomakesenseoftheirandeachother’sexperiencesandmaycreatenewpossibilities”(p.255).Sommer and Cox (2003) and Ward and Sommer (2006) emphasized theuseofstoriesasawaytodeepenandenhancethesupervisionprocess,andtheypointedtotheuseofclassicalfairytalesormythstopromoteexposuretomultipleperspectives.Similarly,AndersonandHolmes(2007)suggestedthatidentifyingmajorthemesfromasupervisee’spersonalstoryandlinkingthemwitha favorite fairy taleor folkstorycanleadtoenhancedpersonalawarenessandgrowth.

Thebenefitsofusingstories insupervisionarebroadandlayered.Assu-pervisors use stories to facilitate supervisee self-reflection, the experienceconcurrentlyteachessuperviseeshowtousestorieswiththeirownclients.Inthisway,clientself-reflectionisencouraged.Thisformofsupervisionallowssupervisees to find personal meaning within culturally based stories whilegainingbetterunderstandingof theirclients’culturalperspectives.Storiesfromthesupervisees’andtheirclients’culturescanofferadditionallayersofunderstandingandallowspace formultipleperspectives fromwhich tounderstandselfandothers.

Storiedsupervisionhonorsculturaldiversitythroughthevaluingofmultipleperspectivesandusesasystemofdeliverythattranscendsculturalboundar-ies.Allculturestellstories.SimilartoParryandDoan’s(1994)interpretationofpostmodernnarrative therapy, storiedsupervisionembraces the ideaofmultiple meanings depending on interpretation. Whether the stories aretrueorpersonal to the superviseesorwhether all supervisees identify thesamekeypointsisnotimportant.Whatisparamountisthatsuperviseesfindmeaning,howeverthatmeaningisdefined.Bettelheim(1977)wrotethat“thefairytaleistherapeuticbecausethepatientfindshisownsolutions,throughcontemplatingwhatthestoryseemstoimplyabouthimandhisinnerconflictsat thismoment inhis life”(p.25).Similarly, storiedsupervisionembracesandvalueseachsupervisee’suniquewayofknowing.Inessence,superviseeswillinterpretandconnecttothemyth,story,orfairytaleindifferentways,dependingontheirpersonalexperiencesandframesofreference.

stories as meaning-making toolsHowcansupervisorsusetheendlesssupplyofglobalstoriestoenhancesuper-visees’personalunderstandingandtopromoteunderstandingandappreciationoftheirclients’uniqueperspectives?Toanswerthisquestion,supervisorsmustunderstandwhymeaningmakingiscrucial.Meaningmakingisfundamentaltohumannature.Peopleextol a greatdealof effort, both consciously andunconsciously,engaginginthisambiguousundertaking(Rosen,1996).Inde-scribingdevelopmentalconstructionism,Rosennotedthatanindividualcreatesmoreadaptivewaysofmakingmeaningwhentheindividual’sself-organization


isinastateofdisequilibrium.Thisconceptisrelevanttosupervisioninthatsupervisees,especiallyneophytesupervisees,oftenexperienceagreatdealofuncertainty.As they learnabout andgainexperiencewith individuals fromdifferentcultures,superviseesmaybegintoquestionlong-heldbeliefs,whichcanresultinastateoftemporaryconfusionanddisequilibrium.Usingstoriescanprovidesuperviseeswithanopportunity torestoreequilibriumthroughself-reflectionandmeaningmaking.

Bhattacharyya(1997)assertedthatstoriesandmythscanhelpindividualstoanswerquestionsregardingwheretheyhavecomefromandwheretheybelong. As such, stories can provide a template for individuals to projectandtomakemeaningofpersonalexperiences.Additionally,Bhattacharyyadistinguishedidentificationasthemostpowerfulmechanismintheuseofstoriesbecauseanindividualfigurativelystepsintoacharacter’sshoesandattemptstodiscernwhatheorshewouldorwouldnotdointhecharacter’ssituation.Inplacingthemselves inthecontextof thestory, individualsarenotpassiverecipients; rather, theyareactiveagentswhoconstructandor-ganizemeaning(Rosen,1996).Forexample,Kim,Green,andKlein(2006)promotedtheuseofstorybooks toenhancethemulticulturalsensitivityofelementaryschoolchildren.Theysuggestedthataschildrenencounterthedifferentsituationscontainedwithinthestories,theyareabletoprojecttheirownexperiencesontothecharacters.Theauthorsnotedthatstoriescanassistchildrenindevelopingasenseofidentity,anawarenessofdifferencesfromothers,knowledgeoftheirownandothercultures,andskillstorelateeffec-tivelywithothersfromdifferentculturalbackgrounds.Byreflectingonthestoryandincorporatingtheexperienceintotheirexistingschema,childrenhavetheopportunitytocreatemeaningaroundthenarrative.

However, the use of stories as a meaning-making tool is not limited tochildren.TylerandGuth(1999)suggestedstories intheformofdifferentmedia,suchasfeaturefilmsandpopularfiction,totraincounselingstudentsinmulticulturalanddiversityissues.Theseauthorsnotedthatstudentscouldbeaskedtoreflectonpersonalissuesandemotionalresponsesthatemergefromreactionstothecharactersandthestoryline.TylerandGuthsuggestedthatstudentsbeallowedtocreatemeaningaroundthestorytofacilitateadeeper level of processing their own experiences. The use of narrative topromotemeaningmakingallowscounseloreducatorstoengagestudentsinamannerthathasbeentestedbytimeandacrosscultures.Storieshavebeenused throughout history to provide meaning and address developmentaldilemmasbyusinguniversal symbols (Harper&Gray, 1997). Stories fromaroundtheworldhaveuniversalsymbolsorcommonmotifsthatarerecog-nizable to individuals fromdiversecultures.Supervisorsmayusestories tohelpcreateacommongroundfromwhichstudentscanreflectonsymbolsorthemestohelpthemexpresstheirownviewsandunderstandtheviewsofothers.Usingstoriesinthismannercancreateaspaceinwhichsupervisees


canconsidermultipleperspectivesandinterpretations, therebyenhancingmulticulturalunderstanding.

connecting the universal and the personal story

Campbell(1974)suggestedthatcommonelementscanbefoundwithinmythsfromaroundtheworld.Bettelheim(1977)notedthatafairytaleisamirrorthatreflectsaspectsofanindividual’sinnerworld.Theintersectionofaglobalmyththatreflectsculturalknowledgeandafairytalethatreflectsindividualmeaningservedasthebasisofaninternationalconferencepresentation.Whatifstoriesfromdiversecultureswereviewedthrougha lensthatreflectedanindividual’spersonalexperiences?WewerecurioushowsharingstoriesbasedonclassicdesignationsbyCampbell(1959,1962,1964,respectively)ofprimitive,oriental,andoccidentalmythologycouldhelpsupervisorsandsuperviseestotranscendculture-specificboundariesandenhancemulticulturalunderstand-ing.Incontemporaryterms,wechosethreemythsorfairytalesthatreflectedNativeAmerican,EastAsian,andEuropeanCaucasiancultures.Althoughwehadintentionallyselectedeachstory,participantsweresimplyinformedthattheywouldhearaculturalstory.ParticipantswerefromSouthKorea,NewZealand,Malta,GreatBritain,Canada,Nigeria,Rwanda,andtheUnitedStates.AfterprovidingparticipantsabriefoverviewofCampbell’s(1959,1962,1964,1974)workandtheuseofstoriesasmeaning-makingtools,wedividedtheaudienceintothreegroupsandreadadifferentstory toeachgroup.Wefacilitatedadiscussion ineach smallgroupof its respective story.We thenengaged theentireaudienceinfurtherdiscussion.Afullrenditionofeachstoryisbeyondthescopeofthisarticle.However,wepresentasynopsisofeachsothatreadersmaybetterunderstandparticipants’reactionsandreflections.

synopsesofstories

TheHeavenlyMaidenandtheWoodcutter.ThissummarywasadaptedfromGrayson’s(2001)collectionofKoreanmyths:Ahandsomeyoungwoodcutterlivedwithhismotheratthefootofamountain.Onedaywhileworking,hehidadeerfromahunter.Torepayhiskindness,thedeertoldthewoodcuttertohidetheclothofaheavenlymaidenwhocametobathewithhersisters.Ifhedidso,shewouldnotbeabletogobacktoheavenandshewouldmarryhim.Thedeertoldhimnottoshowhertheclothuntilshegavebirthtothreechildren.Timepassedandtheheavenlymaidenlivedhappilywiththewoodcutter,theirtwochildren,andhermother-in-law;however,shebecamehomesickforherfamilyinheaven.Shebeggedherhusbandtoshowherthecloth.Notheedingthedeer,thewoodcutterfulfilledherrequest.Whenshesawthecloth,sheflewtoheavenholdingachildineacharm.Thesadwoodcuttermetthedeeragain


andthedeertoldhimtohideinthebusheswhenthebucketfromheavencamedowntogetwater.Thewoodcutterdidsoandwasabletoridethebuckettoheaventoseehisfamily.Eventhoughhewashappy,hemissedhismotheronearth.Hiswifearrangedhisridebackhomeonawingedhorse.Shewarnedhimnottodismountthehorsebecausehewouldnotbeabletoreturntoheaven.Whenthewoodcuttersawhismother,shewantedhimtoeatahotpumpkinsoupthatshehadmade.Butthesoupwastoohotandhedroppeditontheneckofthewingedhorse.Thehorsereared,throwingthewoodcuttertotheground,andreturnedtoheaven.Fromthatday,thesadwoodcutterlookeduptoheavenandcriedbecausehemissedhiswifeandchildren.Eventually,thewoodcutterdiedofgriefandbecamearooster,andthatiswhyroosterscrowwiththeirnecksstretchedtowardheaven.

Briar Rose. This summary was adapted from Tatar’s interpretation of theBrothers Grimm story (Grimm & Grimm, 1857/2004): A king and queenhadbeenchildlessformanyyearsbeforetheirbeautifuldaughterwasborn,andthehappykingplannedafeast.Heinvitedmanyguests,includingthekingdom’swisewomen.Unfortunately,thekinghadonly12goldenplatessothe13thwisewomanwasnotinvited.Atthefeast,11oftheinvited12wisewomenhadbestowedtheirspecialgiftsontheprincesswhentheuninvitedwisewomanappeared.Shecursedthegirl, statingthat theprincesswouldprickherfingeronaspindleanddiewhenshewas15yearsold.The12thwisewomanhadnotyetgrantedhergift.Althoughshewasunabletoreversethespell,shetempereditsothattheprincesswouldfallintoadeepsleepratherthandie.Ontheprincess’s15thbirthday,shefoundasmalldoor.Sheopenedthedoor,foundanoldwomanspinning,prickedherfingeronthespindle,andfellintoadeepsleep.Everylivingthinginthekingdomfellasleep.Muchtimepassed,andthickbramblesgrewaroundthecastle,causingittobecomeinvisible.Occasionally,aprincewouldtrytoenterthecastleandfindPrincessBriarRose,onlytobecomecaughtinthebramblesanddie.After100years,oneyoungprincedeclaredthathewasnotafraidandwouldfindhiswayintothecastle.Withthehelpofawise,oldgrandfather,theprincelearnedofasecretpassage.Asheapproached,thebramblesturnedtoflowersandlethimpass.HewanderedthroughthecastleuntilhefoundPrincessBriarRose.Ashekissedher,sheandtheentirekingdombegantoawaken.Theprinceandprincessweddedandlivedhappilyeverafter.

Moowis:TheSnowHusband.ThissummarywasadaptedfromDuane’s(2004)collectionofNativeAmericanmyths and legends.A youngmaiden livedinanorthernAlgonquinvillage.Althoughshewasbeautiful, themaidenwashard toplease.Onenoblebravewent toher toexpresshis love,butshelaughedandrejectedhimcruelly.Themanfeltsadandhumiliated.Heprayedeagerlytohis“manitto”(Duane,2004,p.64),callingforhisassistanceinaplottoseekrevenge.Thebravewasguidedtotakeelementsfoundinnatureandscrapsofoldclothesandtoformthemintotheskeletalshapeof


aman.Hegavethefigurefurthershapebycoatingitwithsnow.Thebravebreathedonhiscreation,anditcametolife.HenameditMoowis,andthebeautyofMoowisbecamewellknowninthevillage.SoonMoowiswasin-vitedtodinnerbythechief,themaiden’sfather.ThemaideninstantlyfellinlovewithMoowis,andtheyweremarriedwithinaweek.Thenewlyweds’happinesslastedonlyashorttime.Moowiswasinstructedbythebravetoleave fora longsolitary journey.Hiswifebeggedtogowithhim.Duringthejourney,Moowiswasmeltedbythesun.HisyoungwifewasindespairwhenshecouldnotfindMoowisbutonly fragmentsofhisclothing.Shekeptsearchingforhimintheforestuntilshediedyears later.Peoplesaytheycanstillhearhercallingforherhusband:“Moowis!Moowis!Ningewonewinig:newonewig”[“Moowis!Moowis!Youhaveledmeastray;Icannotfindmyway”](Duane,2004,p.67).

facilitatedgroupdiscussionofstories

Thefacilitateddiscussionforeachsmallgroupcenteredonpredeterminedquestions:(a)Howareyousimilartoordifferentfromthestory’sprotagonist?(b)Whatseemedtobethemoralorthemeofthestory?(c)Whatimplica-tions forgender rolesexist in this story? (d)What implications for familyrolesexistinthisstory?(e)Howdoesyourpersonallensinfluencethewayyouinterpretedthisstory?(f)Whatcommonelementsbetweenculturesdoyoufindinthisstory?(g)Whatuniqueculturaldifferencesdoyoufindinthisstory?and(h)Howmightprocessingthisstoryinsupervisionhelpenhancemulticulturalawareness?Allparticipantsreconvenedtoconsideradditionalquestions:(a)Whatsurprisedyouthemostinthesmallgroupdiscussions?(b)Howmightsharingstoriesliketheseinsupervisionhelptobuildabridgebetween culturally diverse supervisors/supervisees and counselors/clients?and(c)Howlikelyareyoutotrysharingastoryinsupervisiontoenhancemulticulturalunderstanding?

participantreactionsandreflections

Participantsdescribedwaysinwhichthesestoriesresonatedwiththeirownbeliefs and helped them to understand others’ perspectives. The HeavenlyMaidenandtheWoodcutterwasselectedbecauseoftheroleplayedbyextendedfamily.Indiscussingthisstory,groupmembersrealizedthehighregardthatboththewoodcutterandtheheavenlymaidenheldfortheirextendedfamilies.Onepersondescribedthisas“beingtornbetweentwoworlds”andwonderedifthisstorycouldhelpsuperviseesinconsideringhowtheirownviewsmightdifferfromthatoftheirsupervisors’orclients’.OthersnotedtheimportanceoflookingatthelargerfamilywhenworkingwithEastAsianclients.Groupmembers shared that they thought of the deer as the supervisor and thewoodcutter as the supervisee, and theypointedout thegreater chanceof


successwhenthetwoworkedincollaboration.BriarRosewasselectedbecauseofitsuseoftraditionalEuropeanCaucasiangenderroles.Groupmembersweresurprisedatthedifferingemphasisthateachplacedonvariousaspectsofthestory,suchaswhyawomanwaschosentobethevillain,whyamanwaschosentobethehero,andhowmotherhoodwasimportant.Groupmembersnotedthatdifferentperspectivescouldbetakenonthesamestory,providingeachlistenerwithanopportunitytolearnfromothers.Thedifferentculturalperspectivesbroughttothestoryguidednotonlythepointsofemphasisbutalso the target of solutions. Group members discussed how problems canbesolvedindifferentwaysatdifferentpointsinthestory’stimeline.TheypointedoutthatBriarRosecouldfacilitatemulticulturalcompetencybecauseoftheuniversalcomponentsinproblemsolving.Onegroupmembersharedthatinhernativevillage,muchchildhoodlearningtookplacethroughthetellingof storiesbyolderwomen.Sheemphasized that “weall connect tostoriesonsomelevel.”Moowis:TheSnowHusbandwasselectedbecauseoftheroleplayedbyelementsofnature.Groupmembersdiscussed theneed tolookpasttheoutwardbeautyofapersonandtoexplorewhatisontheinside.Theyalsonotedthatlistenersmusthave“anopenlens”tounderstandothercultures.Groupmembersbelieved thatusing stories couldhelp to “relateourownideastosupervision.”Discussionsinthesmallgroupsweredifficulttobringtoaclose;groupmembersseemedhungryforhearingandtalkingaboutstories.

Whenallparticipantsreconvened,theirdiscussionincludedideasforsharingstoriesinsupervision.Wehaveselectedanecdotalexamplestohelpillustratethemajorpoints.Participantssharedthat“thisisadifferentwayoflookingatknowledge”andthat“storiesprovidedtheopportunityforrichdiscussion.”They related to the universality of the stories: “I could relate our story toourcurrentculture”or“thecomplexityinfamilysystemsisuniversal.”Oneparticipantnotedthatdiscussinghergroup’sstoryhelpedhertounderstandtheeffectofherculturallens,becauseherperspectivedifferedfromthatoftheothermembersinhergroup.Anotherparticipantexpressedsurpriseinthat“ourstorywasfilledwithmoredepththanIhadanticipated.”Apartici-pantaddedthat“weneedtousestoriesand learnto listen—really listen.”Counselors, socialworkers,andpsychologistsall resonatedwith theuseofstories.Severalnotedthatstorieswerecentraltoteachingvaluesintheirna-tivecountries,andtheybelievedtheirsuperviseeswouldeasilyrelatetothisapproach.Oneparticipantsaidthatshewouldusestoriesfromherhomelandwithhercurrent superviseesasa tool tohelpbridge thegapbetweenhercultureandtheirs.Sheappreciatedthisideabecause“storytellingisadailycustomin[my]culture.”Althoughtheywerewelcomedtosharecriticalviewsonusingstories,nooneofferedanegativeperspective.Oneparticipantaptlysummarized:“Peoplethinkstoriesareforchildren,butnowIseetheycanbeasimportantforadults.”


practical suggestions for using stories in supervision

Usingstorieswithculturalsignificanceasabridgetoenhancemulticulturalunderstandinginsupervisioncanbehelpfulinanumberofways.Asindicatedby theanecdotalexamples, the storieddiscussions stimulated self-reflectionand created opportunities for dialogue. Additionally, storied discussion insupervision may be helpful in processing multicultural issues with studentswhohavehad limitedexposure todiverse cultures.Coleman (2006)notedthatprocesscomponents,suchasexperienceswithculturallydiverseothers,weresignificantinthedevelopmentofmulticulturallycompetentcounselors.However, insomesettings,counselorshavelimitedopportunitiestointeractwithindividualsfromothercultures.Theuseofstoriesinsupervisioncouldprovideanopportunityforexposuretodifferentculturalvaluesandcustomswhenphysicalinteractionisgeographicallylimited.Finally,theuseofstoriedsupervisionmayhelpinthecreationofasafeplacetoprocesstopicsthatcanbe challenging, confusing,or frightening.Nelsonet al. (2006) argued thatsupervisorsmustcreateasafeplaceinwhichanxietycanbeexperiencedinawaythatchallengessuperviseestostretchandgrow.Similarly,Dresseletal.(2007)foundthatamong34experiencedprofessionalsupervisors,themostimportantelementofsuccessfulmulticulturalsupervisionwas“creatingasafeenvironmentfordiscussionofmulticulturalissues”(p.60).Wesuggestusingstories in supervision to increasemulticultural competenceoffers auniquemethodforcreatingasafeplaceforsuperviseestoexplorecomplexissuesinanonthreateningmanner.

Storiedsupervisioncanbeusedinbothindividualandgroupsupervisionandisuniquelyappropriateforsuperviseesfromavarietyofculturalbackgrounds.Counselor educators can choose stories to share in the group supervisionof clinical experience courses.Many sources exist for locating such stories.Campbell’s(1959,1962,1964,1974)worksorcollectionsoffairytalesbytheBrothersGrimmorHansChristianAndersencouldprovideastartingpoint.Afterastoryisread,superviseesshouldbeaskedtoconsiderquestionssuchasthoseweusedwithourparticipants.Facilitatedgroupdiscussioncanhelpstudentsexploretheirownculturalreferencepointsandunderstandhowothersmightviewthestorydifferently.Superviseesworkingwithculturallydifferentclientscouldbeencouragedtofindarelevantfairytaleormythtobeexploredinindividualsupervisionwiththegoalofhelpingsuperviseestoenterintotheirclients’culturalworlds.Thesupervisorydyadcoulddiscussthehelpfulnessorappropriatenessofsharingthestorywiththeclientinacounselingsession.Manystoriescanbefound,andmanywaysexisttousetheminsupervision.Keypointstokeepinmindincludetheideasthatanystoryhasmultipleinterpretationsandthatallstoriesareviewedthroughthelensofpersonalexperience.


further considerationsThemultipleinterpretationsofstoriesmaketheiruseinsupervisionparticularlymeaningful.Multipleinterpretationsalsoplayedaroleintheorganizationofourconferencepresentationandtheensuingarticle.Eachofushadtiestoparticular storiesbecauseofourculturalheritageorpersonal interests.Wediscussedwhichstorieswouldprovidethebestopportunitiestoillustrateourpoints.Ourvariedculturalpreferencesforandinterpretationsofstoriesrequiredustonegotiatehowwewouldpresentanarticlethatreflectedourindividualvoicesyetbeasynthesizedfinishedproduct.Ongoingdialogueandinterpersonalreflectionwereessentialincompletingourproject.Thissamedialogueandnegotiationofmeaningaroundtheuseofstories insupervi-sioncouldhaveasimilarbeneficialresult.Furtherinvestigationintotheuseofstoriesandmulticulturalcompetencyisneeded.Futureresearcherscouldfocus on sharing stories in practicum, internship, or multicultural classesandqualitativelyanalyzingrecordedgroupdiscussions.In-depthinterviewswith selected individual participants could add perspective on the use ofstoriestoenhancemulticulturalunderstanding.Ashumanity’ssocialfabricbecomes increasinglydiverseand theworld inwhichpeople livebecomesmoreofaglobalcommunity,counselorsandsupervisorsmustbepreparedtoworkwithindividualsfrommultipleethnicandculturalbackgrounds.Us-ingstoriestotranscendculturalboundariescouldplayanimportantroleinthisendeavor.

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multicultural connections: using stories to transcend cultural boundaries in supervision

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