IJSP Number 5, 2023

61 regularly. Across these check-ins, supervisors are encouraged to allow students to ask questions and provide feedback on the ongoing supervision process based on their own training experiences with the supervisor and the program. This can result in deepening the supervisory relationship with the supervisee. The Supervisor Complexity Model (SCM; [13]) is another conceptual framework that is helpful for enhancing clinical supervisors’ cross-cultural supervision skills. The SCM conceptualizes that clinical supervisors can be at four different stages: (a) role shock; (b) recovery and transition; (c) role consolidation; and (d) role mastery. We believe the enhancement of cross-cultural supervision ability can be approached based on the supervisor’s own developmental stage in their clinical supervision competency. For instance, in the role shock stage the supervisors show heightened anxiety and insecurity about supervising international students. They may feel overwhelmed by cultural differences between themselves and their supervisees and thus, become more rigid. Next, in the recovery and transition stage, the supervisors begin to take risks, and gain more tolerance of the unknown and uncertainty. In the third stage of role consolidation, the supervisors start to show a more realistic and accurate picture of their supervisory style, which also helps them consolidate their supervisory identity. Finally, in the final stage of role mastery, the supervisors experience a sense of mastery in cross-cultural supervision. As such, the SCM delineates that supervisory skills can be developed, matured, and strengthened through continuing training and education [14]. This also highlights that cross-cultural competence is an on-going process for supervisors who show a willingness to commit to cross-cultural supervision. Regarding specific strategies for culturally competent supervision, [15] and associates outline that culturally competent supervisors require three core elements: (a) reflection; (b) use of humility to appreciate issues of power; and (c) working with otherness. Supervisors’ engagement in reflection enables students to learn new perspectives while maintaining self-awareness. Supervisors’ reflection in action acts as a parallel process helping international students to navigate cultural issues in their subsequent therapy sessions with their clients. Second, use of cultural humility in supervision allows supervisors not to shy away from discussing systemic levels of oppression, examine power differentials, and foster a collaborative approach and reflection. Finally, working with otherness enables clinical supervisors to recognize the cultural differences, explore the tensions, and validate the experience of not- knowing. Supervisors’ not knowing stance also invites international trainees to reflect on complexity in intersecting identities and help them attend to sociocultural and systemic factors in therapy and supervision. 2. THE PRESENT STUDY This qualitative study aimed to explore the cross-cultural supervision experiences from clinical supervisors’ perspectives, through which we intended to identify themes and specific interventions that contribute to effective supervision with international trainees. Given the scarcity of literature on cross-cultural clinical supervision, we used open-ended survey questions to gather information [16]. There are several benefits of using written, open-ended survey questions. They include (a)