Counseling the Hispanic Client: Cuban Americans,Mexican Americans,and Puerto Ricans

This article describes a general framework that may be used when counseling Cuban American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican clients. The psychological and sociocultural characteristics of these populations are described. Both differences and similarities among the 3 groups are reviewed. The identification of the client's worldview, cultural values, and family values provides a specific framework for counseling these clients. Specific and general guidelines are provided for the psychological assessment of Cuban American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican clients.     

Spirituality and Multimodal Therapy: A Practical Approach to Incorporating Spirituality in Counseling

The purpose of this article is to describe how the dimension of spirituality can be added to an existing counseling theory, multimodal therapy (MMT; A. A. Lazarus, 1984), to provide counselors with a practical approach to incorporating clients' religious and spiritual beliefs in the counseling process. An explanation of MMT is given, as well as its supporting research. The context of spirituality in counseling is discussed, and the process by which it can be integrated into the MMT model is explained. Two case studies are described to demonstrate how spiritual issues can be assessed and used to strengthen the counseling process. Finally, implications for counseling are discussed.     

Counseling Native Americans

This article addresses the issues facing White counselors in providing services to Native Americans, whose values differ significantly from the dominant culture's. Native Americans have been consistently threatened with cultural assimilation. Previously published recommendations to counselors are reviewed and the relevance and possible uses of traditional Native American healing practices are discussed. One such practice, the vision quest, is described in detail. Counselors need to learn culturally relevant metaphors in order to promote healing and change and, in effect, must themselves undergo an acculturation process.     

Marriage Counseling: A Christian Approach to Counseling Couples

An approach to marriage counseling aimed at Christian couples is described. The theoretical bases of the approach are cognitive behavioral therapy and structural and strategic marital therapies. Techniques are drawn from various schools of marriage therapy. Shared Christian values between counselor and clients are used to promote increased marital commitment, marital satisfaction, and personal spiritual growth. Marital satisfaction might be increased through helping the couple increase their intimacy, enhance their communication, improve their conflict management, and forgive each other for past and present hurts.     

Counseling Blacks: A Group Approach

This article argues that group work is the most effective clinical tool for work with Black clients because of their Africentric dispositions.     

Death-Related Attitudes and Behavior among Mexican Americans: A Review

ABSTRACT: A review of the literature on death-related attitudes and behavior of Mexican Americans is presented. Special focus is given to the 1976 study of Kalish and Reynolds which concludes that Mexican Americans are more accepting of death than Anglos and other ethnic groups. Some of the study's findings are found to suggest that the opposite may be true. An alternative interpretation of the findings is given along with suggestions for future research.     

Counseling Jewish Americans: Considerations for Practice

Jewish Americans represent both a minority religious group and a minority ethnic group with specific concerns related to Jewish identity, stereotypes, antisemitism, and invisibility as a minority. Counselors may lack spiritual, religious, and overall multicultural competencies for working effectively with this population. The authors offer a brief primer on Jewish Americans, literature on Jewish identity and potential client concerns, practical and clinical considerations, and suggestions for future research.     

Counseling Thai Americans: An Emerging Need

This article identifies the unique issues of Thai Americans as a cultural minority in the United States. The authors propose ways of understanding and responding to Thai American clients and recommend strategies for working more effectively with these clients.     

Counseling Mexican American Seniors: An Overview

This article examines assessment and counseling techniques that correspond to the sociocultural framework of Mexican American seniors. Acculturation, familial, and adaptation themes are delineated for ensuring appropriate interventions. Case vignettes elucidate these perspectives.     

The Rule of Opposites: A Paradigm for Counseling Native Americans

The Rule of Opposites offers a cultural lesson in perspective that is useful for counselors working with Native American clients. The Rule of Opposites, based on the concept of the Circle of Life, is presented as a worldview that allows individuals to move beyond their current frame of reference toward an understanding of universal truths and underlying meanings. Use of the Rule's 7 lessons helps both the counselor and the client to recognize and resolve conflict, to ask more effective questions, to seek harmony and balance in life for greater purpose and direction, and to explore personal decision making and choices.     

Counseling Considerations Among Arab Americans

In keeping with our pluralistic society, counselors have begun the task of attempting to understand issues of multicultural diversity. The purpose of this article is to describe a focus group interview conducted with a group of therapists in a large‐scale, comprehensive family service agency in an Arab American community. Participants represented various countries of origin, helping disciplines, and years of U.S. residence. The interview format was semistructured, and the results confirmed what little was already known about the population and supplemented that body of knowledge with updated information. Implications for counseling and further research are discussed.     

SCOPE: A Comprehensive-Sequential Approach to Career Counseling

SCOPE is a comprehensive career-counseling program presently in operation at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, New Jersey. It consists of a basic program plus a cluster of supplemental, optional exercises. The basic program has a sequence of four career-planning phases, one of which applies to each undergraduate year. Efforts are made to process students systematically through the entire basic program. An individual checklist kept for each participating student provides an internal mechanism for program evaluation and modification. Early results suggest effectiveness and positive student reactions.     

Counseling Supervision and Consultation: A Psychobehavioral Approach

The Florida Bureau of Employment Service within the Florida Department of Commerce has developed and implemented a competency-based counselor training model. The model has established competencies for counselors in the areas of relationship skills, career development, individual and group assessment, group guidance and counseling, continuity of services, community relations skills, professional development and workload, and intra-office relationships. In the supervisory portion of the model competencies were explicated in the areas of supervisory skills, assuming that all the counselor competencies are also present in the supervisor's behavior. This article is limited to a discussion of the basic components of the supervisory model and the presentation of an actual case, to illustrate its direct application in the field.     

Counseling African Americans: Integrating Spirituality in Therapy

African American culture is rich with religious and spiritual traditions and practices that largely have been ignored in traditional approaches to counseling with this population. The purpose of this article is to describe the religious and spiritual dimensions of African American culture and to offer strategies for incorporating them into counseling African American clients.     

Between Two Worlds: Counseling South Asian Americans

This article examines some of the mental health issues associated with counseling South Asian immigrants in the United States. A profile of the South Asian family is developed. Its structure and values are examined in relation to those of the American counseling community.