Add To Cart

Section 4
Model for Gender Issues in Supervision

Question 4 | Test | Table of Contents | Printable Page

Consider the following question. Would it be better for a female client who was sexually abused as a child to have a female therapist or a male therapist? It seems to me that there may be three possible answers to this question.
1. It may be that a female therapist would understand the woman’s vulnerability better than a male therapist.
2. In contrast, it may be that a male therapist would be able to help the woman "work through" the resulting traumatic feelings she has about men.
3. Additionally, some might consider it important to assign a male therapist to this case who had also been sexually abused.
Do you agree with any of these viewpoints? If so, which one(s)? If you do not agree, what do you think would be a better way to approach the situation?

Consider discussing the the following questions about gender in supervision with your supervisee in your next session.
- Should the gender of the supervisee be a focus in supervision?
- Should the supervisee’s gender be a factor of consideration for particular problems or cases?
- In what parts of therapy might the gender of the supervisee play a significant role?
I have found that there are sound arguments on both sides of this issue. What do you think?

Similarly, classifying therapy by gender might result in further distinctions; for example, the tendency for social workers to be assigned to some cases and psychologists or counselors to others. This would necessitate having sufficient therapists of each gender and profession since different problems would be confined to different professions. Alternatively, supervision training may enable a supervisee of any gender or profession to treat any type of case. What do you think is the best option? Do you think that separating therapy cases by gender and/or profession is better, or is it better to train all supervisees to be able to deal with the same types of cases?

Gender Rights - The Dual Hierarchy
One problem for supervisees may be how to be fair about gender rights. This is especially noticed when the supervisee is working with a couple within a different ethnic group that has different ideas about gender equality. As you are aware, equality for men and women is not a recognized concept worldwide. Supervisors need to help guide supervisees to an state of mind that is both within the supervisee’s personal belief system, and also allows the supervisee to helpfully work with the couple in therapy. In other words, supervisees must learn to remain objective while working with a client whose belief system differs from their own.

The two models we discussed were the video supervision model and the live or "behind the mirror" supervision model. Regarding supervision behind the mirror, we also discussed group training, sharing information with clients, protecting the supervisee, and gender issues in supervision.

QUESTION 4

To select and enter your answer go to Test.

Test for this course
Forward to Section 5
Back to Section 3
Table of Contents
Top