Karen W. Tao

Microaggressions and Women in Short-Term Psychotherapy: Initial Evidence

The current study retrospectively examined the relationship between female clients’ perceptions of microaggressions directed toward women, working alliance, and therapeutic outcomes (N = 121). A measure, the Microaggressions Against Women Scale (MAWS), was developed specifically for this study, based on a content review of the literature, focus group, and a panel of seven female psychologists. A latent class factor analysis (returning one factor) and internal consistency estimates supported the measure. Clients’ MAWS scores were negatively correlated with working alliance and therapy outcomes, suggesting that clients’ perceptions of microaggressions can influence the process and outcome of therapy. Last, working alliance mediated the negative relationship between microaggressions and therapy outcomes. Implications for practice and further research are provided.

Examining Supervisors' Multicultural Competence in Racially Similar and Different Supervision Dyads

Abstract This study examined differences in multicultural supervision competence between White and racial/ethnic minority (REM) supervisors in racially similar and different supervisor-supervisee dyads. Overall, REM supervisors reported more multicultural supervision competence than White supervisors. In racially similar dyads, REM supervisors spent significantly more time addressing cultural issues in supervision than White supervisors. White supervisors also discussed cultural issues significantly more with racially different supervisees than racially similar supervisees. Supervisors differed in which cultural issues they discussed and considered applicable to supervision. Results were discussed relative to the implications to supervision and directions for future research.

A meta-analysis of multicultural competencies and psychotherapy process and outcome.

For decades, psychologists have emphasized the provision of multiculturally competent psychotherapy to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in mental health treatment. However, the relationship between multicultural competencies (MC) and other measures of clinical process and treatment outcome has shown heterogeneity in effect sizes. This meta-analysis tested the association of client ratings of therapist MC with measures of therapeutic processes and outcome, including: (a) working alliance, (b) client satisfaction, (c) general counseling competence, (d) session impact, and (e) symptom improvement. Among 18 studies (20 independent samples) included in the analysis, the correlation between therapist MC and outcome (r = .29) was much smaller than the association with process measures (r = .75), but there were no significant differences in correlations across different types of MC or clinical process measures. Providing some evidence of publication bias, effect sizes from published studies (r = .67) were larger than those from unpublished dissertations (r = .28). Moderator analyses indicated that client age, gender, the representation of racial-ethnic minority (R-EM) clients, and clinical setting were not associated with effect size variability. Based on these findings, we discuss implications and recommendations for future research that might lead to a better understanding of the effects of therapist MC on treatment process and outcome. Primary needs in future research include the development and evaluation of observer ratings of therapist MC and the implementation of longitudinal research designs.

Self-Reported Multicultural Supervision Competence of White Predoctoral Intern Supervisors

This study assessed the self-reported supervision practices, experiences, and multicultural competence of White intern supervisors (n 211). White training directors and staff psychologists who were currently supervising predoctoral interns completed a 2-page survey regarding their multicultural supervision. Female supervisors reported higher multicultural supervision competence and spent more time processing cultural differences with their supervisees than male supervisors. Training directors also reported higher multicultural supervision competence than staff psychologists. Further, the number of interns supervised currently and over a career significantly predicted multicultural supervision competence. Recommendations for White intern supervisors include ongoing participation in education and professional practice experiences to improve multicultural supervision competence.

An experimental test of microaggression detection in psychotherapy: Therapist multicultural orientation.

Previous studies have documented a relatively high rate of racial–ethnic microaggressions in therapy (e.g., 53% to 81% of clients have reported at least 1 microaggression). In addition, clients who perceive racial–ethnic microaggressions from their therapist have reported lower working alliances and worse therapy outcomes. In one study, over 75% of microaggressions went unaddressed in psychotherapy, and the reason for this is not fully understood. It could be that therapists do not recognize racial–ethnic microaggressions when they occur or feel anxiety about the process of addressing them. A 1st step is to determine whether therapists are able to recognize racial–ethnic microaggressions. The current study included 78 therapists who were randomly assigned to one of 2 conditions: (1) a video vignette of therapy session with 3 racial–ethnic microaggressions (i.e., microaggression condition) and (2) a video vignette of a therapy session with no microaggressions (i.e., neutral condition). The results demonstrated that when compared to those in the neutral condition, participants in the microaggression condition rated the therapist as less sensitive overall, less culturally comfortable, and less culturally humble and as having missed more cultural opportunities. Within the microaggression condition, 38% to 52% of therapists accurately identified one of the 3 microaggressions.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Role of Impostorism in STEM Persistence

Impostor phenomenon or “impostorism” refers to the experience of high-achieving individuals (particularly women) who, despite being successful, attribute their accomplishments to luck, and fear being exposed as frauds. In the current study, we examined the association between impostorism and graduate student self-efficacy, perceptions of the research-training environment, and attitudes toward academic persistence of 224 women completing a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related doctoral degree. As hypothesized, participants who identified more strongly with impostor characteristics reported a lower sense of self-efficacy, more negative views of their academic context, and more pessimistic outlooks toward attaining their doctorate. However, results from a multiple mediation analysis revealed that women’s levels of self-efficacy and perceptions of their doctoral environment accounted for the effects of impostorism on their attitudes about academic persistence. Also, the relation between impostorism and persistence attitudes strengthened as numerical representation of women in a STEM program increased. Results illuminate the potential role STEM departments can have on students’ persistence by developing early opportunities for research collaborations and fostering an early sense of accomplishment. Parents and teachers might also draw from our findings to develop strategies to inoculate younger students from the insidious effects of gender-based stereotypes. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQs website at http://journals.sagepub.com/page/pwq/suppl/index

Cultural concealment and therapy outcomes.

Therapy is predicated on the need for clients to share intimate details about their lives, including their cultural values, attitudes, and beliefs. Previous studies have found that clients conceal certain aspects of their lives including, but not limited to their symptoms and their feelings about the therapy process. To date, there has not been an investigation focused on whether clients conceal aspects of their cultural identities, whether some therapists are more likely to have clients conceal aspects of their cultural identities, and if cultural concealment is associated with therapy outcomes. The present study attempted to do so utilizing the caseloads of 37 therapists who treated a total of 233 clients in a university counseling center setting. Client data were collected at the end of treatment utilizing the Patient’s Estimate of Improvement (PEI; Hatcher & Barends, 1996), a measure that assesses client change on domains including general functioning, symptom related distress, intimate and social relationships, work or school, feelings about oneself, behavior, control of life, and tolerance for and ability to share painful feelings. Cultural concealment was assessed via 5 items regarding the amount and circumstances under which clients withheld cultural identity based information in therapy. Results indicated that within therapists’ caseloads, client’s ratings of cultural concealment were negatively associated with therapy outcomes. Additionally, therapists whose clients rated more cultural concealment on average had clients with worse therapy outcomes. Lastly, there was a significant contextual effect indicating that within and between therapist cultural concealment were statistically different from one another.

Construction and validation of the Multicultural Orientation Inventory—Group Version.

Given the continued racial/ethnic diversification of the United States, it is not uncommon for therapy groups to consist of members with diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds and various cultural identities. Scholars have underscored how this cultural diversity can directly impact many processes and outcomes of group-based interventions (Chen, Kakkad, & Balzano, 2008). However, there is presently a paucity of empirical research testing the relationship between cultural processes of therapy groups and members’ outcomes. Moreover, no psychometrically sound measure of the cultural process that unfolds in group therapy currently exists. As such, this study sought to adapt the Multicultural Orientation Inventory to develop and validate the Multicultural Orientation Inventory—Group Version (MCO-G), a measure assessing the cultural humility, cultural comfort, and cultural missed opportunities in therapy groups. Data for this validation study consisted of 208 members of 49 therapy groups across 10 university counseling centers. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a 3-factor structure of the MCO-G Inventory, wherein the 3 factors corresponded with the underlying constructs of cultural humility, cultural comfort, and cultural missed opportunities. This study provides initial evidence for the estimated internal and convergent validity of the MCO-G, as measured by clients’ perceptions of a higher-order group therapeutic factor and improvement in therapy. Results provide initial support for the psychometric properties of the MCO-G. Moreover, groups’ cultural humility and cultural missed opportunities were related to members’ improvement in therapy. Clinical implications and future research are discussed.