https://www.thequint.com/news/india/15-year-old-commits-suicide-family-alleges-harassment-by-teachers
Clinical training in psychology doctoral
programs often provides a platform for leadership, professionalism, and best
practice that is modeled through supervision provided by licensed psychologists.
I myself reflect fondly on the supervisors who have provided valuable mentorship
and teaching moments throughout my own training. In many ways, those
relationships have inspired some of my broader career goals, as well as my
desire to supervise others. However, not all supervisor-trainee relationships
are ideal. Harmful supervision does exist despite dialogue regarding the topic
being largely absent from the field. Consequently, students are often
ill-prepared to face incidents of sexism and sexual harassment that occur
during clinical training.
In previous training, I
was approached in an inappropriate manner by a former supervisor. Since then, I
have often evaded consideration of his intentions or, more specifically, how he
planned to use the weapon he positioned so uncomfortably close to me. Be it just
barely less proximate to my body than the weapon, I recall his quiet presence
to have somehow yielded more intensity. In fact, it was his silence that
alerted me to the danger.
During that precarious encounter
I should have been powerless. In theory, I was. Yet I was able to effectively
remove myself from the situation, and I chose not to return to the site. Those
choices were my own. No one prepared me for such an event, nor did I receive
guidance in reaching my decision not to return, outside of consultation I
sought within my personal sphere.
A
clinical supervisor has significant control over students’ career outcomes
(Ellis, et al., 2014). As such, the supervisor-trainee relationship is a
vulnerable one. At the time of my experience, I knew I was at a disadvantage in
terms of power and control. The supervisor’s intentions may have been unclear, but
his behavior was an obvious exploitation of the power imbalance within our
relationship. In contrast to effective mentorship, harmful supervision consistently
abuses that power imbalance through behaviors that are deriding, demeaning,
embarrassing, or highly critical (Ellis, et al., 2014). In more extreme cases,
harmful supervision can include sexism, sexual harassment, or even sexual
assault. Female psychology students are not immune to these experiences, even when
training in a field that exists as a body of support for advocacy as it relates
to various social justice issues, such as that of the #METOO movement.
Sexual harassment was previously defined
as any
unwelcome sexual conduct, including any behavior or request that is
sexual in nature (Chu & Lewis, 2019). However, the definition more recently
narrowed when Education Secretary Betsy Devos suggested the definition include only
conduct that is severe and pervasive. Therefore, single occurrences and harmful
behaviors not considered severe enough to qualify as sexual harassment are
discounted. Subjective perception becomes less valid through this definition,
as ambiguous behaviors and the trainee’s personal experience can be more easily
discredited overall. I imagine how impactful this definition would be if I had previously
chosen to come forward. The intentions in that case were not clear, the
behavior occurred once and was difficult to define, and the outcome was absent
of significant trauma. Sadly, Devos’ suggested definition appears to be of
utility only for women who are repeatedly victimized and also experience
recurrent negative implications. Ergo, the aggressor gains greater power, while
the trainee is left more vulnerable. Despite this, students must understand
that any form of gender-based discrimination or sexual harassment is worthy of
responding to through garnering support and taking action.
Students should have a preliminary
understanding of available options following an incident, as well as the responsibilities
of the program. Title IX, a federal law introduced in 1972 (ACLU, 2019), prohibits
any form of sex based discrimination in educational and training programs (Chu
& Lewis, 2019). Any clinical training program that receives federal funding
is bound by Title IX regulations and at times Title VII, which specifically
addressed gender-based discrimination in the workplace (EEOC, 2019). The
intended effect of these laws, though, is not consistently reflected in
outcomes. This is particularly true for Title IX, as many students have seen
unsuccessful resolution of Title IX violations and felt unsupported after
filing a complaint (Everding, Grinvalds, Larkins, Larsen, & Rembert, 2019).
As I explored this topic and reflected on my own experience, I had the pleasure
of connecting with a psychologist who made similar observations throughout her
career.
The
need for training programs to effectively address and resolve sexual harassment
and sexism became evident to Dr. Penny Asay, a board certified counseling psychologist,
throughout over ten years of supervising clinical psychology doctoral students.
Over time, she was informed of various incidents of gender based discrimination
that quite commonly included sexual harassment. Many incidents, she reported,
occurred in supervisory relationships and saw less than satisfactory resolutions. Asay observed that as a field we are
often prepared to address the implications of sexism and sexual harassment yet
rarely do we look internally to identify and resolve such issues. Thus, she and
fellow researchers Torrey Wilson, Ph.D. and Mary Clarke, Ph.D. sought to answer
questions that are absent from the discourse among psychologists and trainees.
Preliminary
results of the researchers’ national study exploring current and former
psychology doctoral students’ personal encounters with sexual harassment and
sexism during various stages of clinical training revealed several distressing
patterns. Not only did many women report experiencing sexual harassment during
training, but a portion of respondents also reported that more than one
incident had occurred. Further, most women chose not to report an incident to
either their schools or their training sites, indicating they stayed silent due
to fears of professional ramifications or due to feeling alone in the
experience. Similarly, my own inaction was driven by these factors. Being well
aware of the supervisor’s financial position and well-established professional
identity I was certainly apprehensive to take action beyond not returning to
the site. Further, having made few connections with others who shared such an
experience exacerbated the ongoing embarrassment I would feel, leading me to
continue to divert disclosure. Somehow, as much as I try to rationalize the
thought, it remains difficult to escape fear that sharing this experience will
somehow reflect poorly on me, rather than the aggressor.
Not
only did Dr. Asay, Wilson, and Clarke’s study reveal alarming information
regarding sexual harassment and sexism in psychology training, much of which I find
mirrors my own experience, the study is one of the first to explore
these trends. As such, a disheartening reality is reflected in the
paucity of research on harmful supervision during psychology training, notably
that which includes sexism and sexual harassment. This is, perhaps, reflected
in the need for training programs to improve their ability to address and
resolve such incidents. As Dr. Asay indicated during our discussion, we must do
better and train around harassment rather than collude with or support harmful
training environments. In the researchers’ study, almost half of the participants
indicated trainings or discussions about sexual harassment were not included in
either their programs or training sites. Clearly, it is imperative to continue
this conversation and proactively raise the issue in clinical training and
educational environments.
Many
of my clinical supervisors have unfailingly treated me as a professional and unique
individual who is valued and respected. With these supervisors, I have been
encouraged to take care of myself throughout the training process, and to at
times allow other roles take precedence, and never did I have to feel inferior
during teaching moments in which I had something to learn and they had
knowledge to share. Moving forward, I hope to be similarly impactful as an
effective mentor who values students in training. I am also driven to be an
advocate and ally for students when the time calls for it. While incidents of
harmful supervision may exist as an anomaly, they are not absent from the
field. I maintain optimism that the work of current and future researchers, the
voices of brave students, and the efforts of graduate program faculty will
enhance student preparedness and contribute to environments in which students
are empowered and discussion of this topic is the norm, rather than unsettling,
uncomfortable, or taboo.
References
ACLU.
(2019). Title IX and sexual violence in schools. ACLU. Retrieved from https://www.aclu
.org/title-ix-and-sexual-violence-schools
Baker
Donelson. (2019). Medical residents and Title IX-What teaching hospitals need
to know. Baker Donelson. Retrieved from https://www.bakerdonelson.com/medical-residents-and-title-ix-what-teaching-hospitals-need-to-know
Chu
S. C. & Lewis I. M. (2019). What happens next with Title IX: DeVos’s
proposed rule, explained. The Harvard
Crimson. Retrieved from https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019 /2/27/title-ix-explainer/
EEOC.
(2019). Facts about sexual harassment. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fs-sex.cfm
Ellis,
M. V., Berger, L., Hanus, A. E., Ayala, E. E., Swords, B. A., & Siembor, M.
(2014). Inadequate and harmful clinical supervision: Testing a revised
framework and assessing occurrence. The Counseling Psychologist, 42(4),
434-472.
Everding
M., Grinvalds J.,Larkins, Larsen B., & Rembert, E. (2019). ‘They’re just
trying to keep us quiet:’ A Title IX investigation. The Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved from http://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/they-re-just-trying-to-keep-us-quiet-a-title/article_c82e919a-5f2e-11e9-b670-0fb44044da50.html
NCAA.
(2019). Title IX frequently asked questions. NCAA. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/
about/resources/inclusion/title-ix-frequently-asked-questions#title
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