Multicultural Orientation in Psychotherapy Supervision: Cultural Humility, Cultural Comfort, and Cultural Opportunities

As a complement to multicultural competence, the multicultural orientation (MCO) perspective has been proposed as a pragmatic way to enhance cultural understandings about psychotherapeutic dynamics, processes, and outcomes. Consisting of three core components—cultural humility, cultural comfort, and cultural opportunities—the MCO is considered relevant for both individual and group treatment. However, the MCO perspective has yet to be specifically applied to psychotherapy supervision. Because supervision often provides multicultural oversight for individual and group psychotherapy services, considering the ramifications of MCO for psychotherapy supervision (MCO-S) is important. In this article, the implications of MCO-S are reviewed, with attention given to the impacts of cultural humility, cultural comfort, and cultural opportunities on the supervisor-supervisee relationship. Case examples are provided to illustrate the ways in which MCO can affect the psychotherapy supervision process and outcome. Supervision research possibilities are also proposed.