In this episode of Supervision Smörgåsbord, Dr. Tara Sanderson chats with Maria Laquerre Diego, a licensed marriage and family therapist known for weaving geek and pop culture into mental health supervision and practice. Together, they explore the power of embracing one's authentic, nerdy self as both a clinician and supervisor, highlighting the value of using pop culture references—like Disney, Star Wars, and superhero stories—to build rapport, create shared language, and break down barriers with both clients and supervisees. Maria Lacare Diego shares creative supervision tools, such as the Infinity Stone intervention and reframing villains’ strengths, encouraging professionals to infuse fun and imagination into therapeutic work. The conversation is lively and thoughtful, offering concrete strategies for promoting authenticity, connection, and creativity in the mental health field.

In this episode of Supervision Smorgasbord, Dr. Tara Sanderson dives into the concept of parallel process in supervision. She explains how supervisors can unintentionally mirror the emotional dynamics between their supervisees and their clients, experiencing unexpected feelings like exhaustion or anger. By naming and addressing these emotions through a relational check-in—the episode's “signature move”—Dr. Tara Sanderson offers actionable strategies for depersonalizing tension and fostering more effective, grounded supervision. She also highlights tools from the Supervision Smart Journal to help supervisors build resilience and navigate the "ghosts in the room," making supervision a deeper, more attuned process.

In this Bonus episode of Supervision Smorgasbord, host Dr. Tara Sanderson sits down with Karen Neary, an integrative relational therapist, supervisor, and doctoral researcher, to dive into Karen's dissertation on cross-ethnoracial supervision among BIPOC supervisors and their supervisees. The conversation explores Karen’s professional journey, the lack of multicultural supervision research, and the urgent need for studies that reflect diverse experiences in the field. Karen details the goals and structure of her study, the importance of participant involvement, and how this work can help disrupt outdated norms in supervision. Both highlight the value of open conversations, mutual learning, and building a stronger, more inclusive foundation for future supervisors and therapists. The episode ends with a call to action for listeners to participate in or share the research opportunity.

RE: Seeking Participants for Dyadic Study on BIPOC Supervisors & their Cross-Ethnoracial Supervisees in Clinical Supervision

Hello,

I hope this email finds you well. My name is Karen Neri. I am a doctoral candidate in Couple and Family Therapy at Antioch University New England. In fulfillment of my dissertation requirement, I am conducting a dyadic survey study on BIPOC supervisors and their cross- ethnoracial supervisees in clinical supervision.

I am looking for pairs of supervisory partners who currently work together and are willing to voluntarily participate in this study. This study examines how cultural humility and cultural empathy impact the supervisory working alliance across ethnoracial and/or cultural lines, and how BIPOC supervisors' ethnoracial identity influences these relationships.

Interested participants will access the same survey, complete it independently on their own time based on their supervisory role, and provide their emails so their responses can be linked as a pair.

Would you be willing to support this study by joining or sharing this study and flyer below with colleagues, student therapists/interns, supervisees, or supervisors?

Link to the survey study: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cross-ethnoracial_supervision

The survey will take about 18-24 minutes. Participants are free to stop at any time without consequences and will have the option to enter their email into a drawing to win a $25 gift card for completing the survey.

(Optional) Supervisees or supervisors, if they prefer, may independently complete the survey on their own and contact me directly to send or email the survey study link to their intended supervisory partner.

Thank you in advance for considering.

With gratitude for your help and support,

Karen Andal Neri

PhD Candidate, Antioch University New England

School of Counseling, Psychology and Therapy, Relational Therapy Division

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Karen A. Neri, JD, MA, LPC, LMFT
PhD Candidate in CFT

kneripack@antioch.edu