Strategies for Building Multicultural Competence in Mental Health and Educational Settings

"A must-read book for all mental health professionals wanting to keep up with today's most important clients...practical, concrete, hands-on details from firsthand experts on ethnic populations." --Richard Suinn, PhD, Colorado State University, Past president (1999), American Psychological Association The rich mosaic of racial and ethnic diversity defines our society now more than ever. For students and professional psychologists, this translates into a critical need to address a range of cultural diversity issues, as well as potential biases. Recently, the American Psychological Association (APA) recognized the importance of cultural competence for psychologists through its adoption of its Multicultural Guidelines. Applying those guidelines to real-world practice is both complex and challenging. Only one text brings it all into sharp focus: Strategies for Building Multicultural Competence in Mental Health and Educational Settings. Edited and written by renowned multicultural experts, this informative guide is full of concrete strategies and case examples, all geared toward achieving the goal of culturally competent practice. Chapter by chapter, it uses a variety of practice modalities in various settings to help all mental health professionals increase their familiarity and compliance with the APA Multicultural Guidelines. Beginning with a useful summary of the APA guidelines, Strategies for Building Multicultural Competence in Mental Health and Educational Settings covers the guidelines' relevance to: Individual and group counseling Couples and family counseling Career counseling with people of color Independent practice settings Multicultural consultations and organizational change Academic mental health training settings Clinical and hospital settings College counseling center settings Elementary and secondary school settings This timely reference also considers building multicultural competence around indigenous healing practices; in clinical supervision contexts; and in culturally sensitive research. Taken together, the book is a much-needed blueprint for making culturally informed decisions, explaining how the multicultural initiatives you implement today can he'p shape the field's future.