Problem
Molly is a 31-year-old African American female who is being supervised by Frank, a 61-year-old Caucasian male. Molly finds it difficult to meet with Frank for supervision, as she often feels nervous about asking him to clarity his directives. She describes their meetings as one-sided and perceives that Frank is often talking at her, rather than with her, and as such she is reluctant to share her ideas and points of views about her cases. She worries that her supervisor will not hear her ideas and perhaps even become frustrated and upset if she is not always so agreeable to his supervision. Molly was raised in a family and in a community that valued respecting one's elders--by never "talking back"-and acquiescing to people in authority, particularly Caucasians. Overall she enjoys her job and the clientele she works with, but has considered leaving her job on multiple occasions. She feels intrinsically stuck by her own ambiguity of whether or not to remain at her job, and is not quite sure what she should do.
• How can Molly be empowered?
• How does the supervisory dyad reflect on the agency as a whole? What are some areas of potential risks, negative perceptions, and areas of improvement for the organization?