Broaching as a strategy for intercultural understanding in clinical supervision
By: Connie T. Jones, Laura E. Welfare, Shekila Melchior, and Rebecca M. Cash
Jones, C. T., Welfare, L. E., Melchior, S., & Cash, R. (2019). Broaching as a strategy for
intercultural understanding in clinical supervision. The Clinical Supervisor, 38, 1 -16.
doi:10.1080/07325223.2018.1560384
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The Clinical
Supervisor on 07 January 2019, available online:
http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/07325223.2018.1560384.
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Abstract:
Broaching cultural similarities and differences with genuine, respectful inquisitiveness is an
important supervisory intervention. Broaching allows supervisors to acknowledge the relevance
of cultural identities and invite supervisee dialogue. Through dialogue, supervisors are tasked
with openly receiving what is said by supervisees and working through ideas to maximize the
effectiveness of supervision. In this practical article, broaching as an intervention in supervision
is described. The importance of clinical supervision, the intercultural nature of supervision,
sample broaching prompts, and recommendations for supervisors are also included.
Keywords: Broaching | clinical supervision | intercultural | cultural identities
Article:
As the field of counseling grows more diverse, the clinical supervisory relationship is becoming
more intercultural in nature. Clinical supervision is vital to ensuring client welfare and fostering
supervisee professional development (Bernard & Goodyear, 2014); therefore, effective
intercultural supervision is crucial. Broaching cultural identities is an intervention long
recommended for use in the counseling relationship (Day-Vines et al., 2007). More recently,
broaching has been recommended for use in counselor education (Day-Vines & Holcomb-
McCoy, 2013). In this article, the use of broaching in the supervisory relationship is described.
The importance of clinical supervision, the intercultural nature of supervision, an overview of
broaching, sample broaching prompts, and recommendations for supervisors are detailed herein.
The importance of clinical supervision
Clinical supervision is essential for developing counselors. Supervisors are charged with
promoting supervisee growth while protecting client well-being (Borders et al., 2011). The
supervisory relationship is a broad term used to describe the nature of the interactive work
between the supervisor and supervisee (Bernard & Goodyear, 2014; Borders & Brown, 2005;