ABSTRACT
Six students studying for the Master of Counselling Psychology opted to complete the solution focused clinical practicum and use this model in their internship. As Sun noted in her book Chinese Themes in Psychology: ‘It is most likely not an exaggeration to say that all persons of Chinese heritage have been infl uenced by Confucianism to a certain extent, and may in fact pay homage to Confucian values and beliefs’ (2008, p. 2). In addition, the great traditions of Taoism and Buddhism infl uence the thinking of Chinese students. These students had been exposed to a variety of traditions, including the local traditions of their parents and the infl uences of Western tradition and globalisation, especially in the time that the British controlled Hong Kong. As they absorbed and practised the philosophy and techniques of solution focused therapy with their clients, they also came upon aspects of their heritage that did not always sit well with their cultural values, and they were challenged to explore these issues in supervision in a dialogic way. As the students engaged in this personal and professional development through solution focused supervision and dialogue, they were embracing both the practice of solution focused therapy and solution focused supervision. As Hermans (2004) notes, any new situation in a person’s life leads to a new positioning for themselves. This new positioning takes place best within a dialogic encounter, which is at the heart of solution focused supervision. The students also had to engage in external dialogue (dialogue with the socio-cultural context in which they fi nd themselves) and internal dialogue (between the many selves they have developed through their life) (Moir-Bussy, 2008). Solution focused supervision is a means of transformative learning.
