Impact of Culture and Context on Psychosocial Adaptation: The Cultural and Contextual Guide Process

The growing diversity of the American population requires of counselors an increased understanding of inter- and intracultural factors. All clients have culture, and contextualized cultural variables can and do affect an individual's ability to adapt to his or her environment. Adaptation difficulties typically produce concerns that further affect the individual's functioning. Counselors need to incorporate contextualized cultural factors into their conceptualization of the individual's concerns and the treatment process. Use of the Cultural and Contextual Guide Process to facilitate inclusion of contextualized culture in the counseling process is discussed and a case study is used to exemplify the process.