IJSP Number 4, 2022

15 unaddressed “damages”, including “being an international trainee, the unique vulnerability due to the visa status makes me even less likely to confront supervisors when I am treated wrong (#1) ” and “growing up in Taiwan, I internalized the value of interpersonal harmony and conflict avoidance…the respect for people in authorities made it even harder to communicate clearly what I need (#2). ” As a result, supervisees shared that they avoided addressing any issues after several similar incidents; they simply utilized supervision for case management tasks (vs. bringing up their vulnerability) and kept any thoughts to themselves. 5.3. Growth-Facilitating Supervision Strategies Extracted from supervisees ’ responses and comments, four general supervision strategies were identified as helpful in facilitating international supervisees ’ personal and professional growth. They included: (1) appropriate self-disclosure, (2) recognizing supervisee ’ s struggle and advocating for them, (3) initiating multicultural conversations, and (4) empowering supervisees. First, the supervisor ’ s self-disclosure was commonly reported as a helpful strategy in this theme ( n = 4). Supervisees reported that supervisor ’ s self-disclosure about their own struggles had helped them reflect on their own sociocultural and professional identities. Second, our findings indicated international supervisees appreciated it when their supervisors openly recognized and empathized with the challenges and struggles that the trainees experienced, expressed care and support, and advocated for them whenever opportunities occurred. Our supervisees reported that these positive interactions strengthened and grew trust in supervisory relationship. Another helpful strategy reported by our participants was for the supervisors to initiate multicultural conversations ( n =10). Our data suggested that initiating cultural talks not only showed the comfort level of the supervisor but also prompted supervisees to reflect on their own cultural identity, upbringing, privilege, and struggles, and explore how these experiences had impacted the ways in which they presented themselves in the therapy room. As a result, the supervisees felt more comfortable being vulnerable in a way that they had not previously been able to do in other supervisory relationships (#10). Empowerment is a helpful strategy identified by all of our participants ( n =10). For instance, supervisee #3 revealed a positive critical incident in which the supervisor had empowered the supervisee when she felt insecure and showed self- doubt of her clinical skills. “I struggled watching my tape because I believed I d idn ’ t help my clients at all…. my supervisor looked into my eyes and said clearly and slowly that … remember that he believes that I am a very good therapist. I felt much moved by it and cried…” Empowerment can have a long-term impact. For instance, supervisee # 7 reported that she still remembered an empowering interaction vividly after three years and it continued to inspire her to exercise self-acceptance. Some supervisees disclosed that through many small but consistent empowering events provided by their supervisors, they slowly felt more grounded with themselves and became more secure with their own voice, which helped them speak up more in the program/training team in ways that felt genuine (#5, #8).