Arguably, the defining feature of the counseling profession is an appreciation for human diversity. Early counseling movements emphasized individual diversity, while multiculturalism and social justice highlighted cultural diversity. The author maintains that contemporary psychoanalytic thought can supply a needed intraindividual diversity…

The authors explore the ethical issues and challenges frequently encountered by counselor educators of multicultural course work. Existing ethics codes are examined, and the need for greater specificity with regard to teaching courses of multicultural content is addressed. Options for revising existing codes to better address the challenges of…

The Hmong in the U.S., a refugee population from Southeast Asia, brought a rich culture with them. To maximize therapeutic success with Hmong clients, counselors must acknowledge and understand Hmong history, culture, and acculturation and the value placed on family and community. This article provides background information and suggestions for…

Definitional Ceremonies are used as a forum for integrating members of diverse cultures into multicultural counseling sessions. The authors provide a philosophical foundation, implementation process, and excerpts from a typescript of a recent definitional ceremony involving a women and her mother, both recently in the United States from Panama.

Presents an overview of W. E. Cross's original (1971) and revised (1991) nigrescence theory in the context of developing a scale to measure the revised model. Also highlighted is the purpose of the other articles in this special issue of the "Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development." (Contains 28 references and 1 table.) (GCP)

Raises a number of critical questions for scale development and theorizing in the field of Black racial identity. In particular, the authors suggest that research on Black racial identity would benefit from longitudinal studies and the examination of the existence of overarching racial identity constructs. (Contains 35 references, 1 table, and an…

States that because of the importance of spiritual and religious issues in the lives of many racial and ethnic minorities, this issue highlights salient considerations and themes when counseling such populations. Recommends that understanding these spiritual and religious issues may allow counselors to help identify a broader range of available…

Presents a series of personal guidelines for promoting the culturally sensitive psychiatric diagnosis of Mexican American/Chicano clients. The insights are intended to supplement other clinicians' diagnoses, to promote the culturally sensitive application of the DSM-IV, and to challenge counselors to avoid misdiagnosis by reexamining their…

Reviews the personal and intellectual forces that shaped one practitioner's approach to counseling. Reflects on five themes in which culture influences human existence: self-hatred, cultural differences, historical hostility, existential counseling, and traditional healing. (LSR)

Identifies 10 of the most frequently encountered examples of cultural bias that consistently emerge in the literature about multicultural counseling and development. Assumptions are described in the areas of normal behavior, individualism, limits of academic disciplines, dependence on abstract words, independence, client support systems, linear…

Suggests that an integrated, comprehensive skills program can be used to assist underprepared students in attaining required academic standards. Describes approach which encourages development of proficiency in basic skills by focusing on synergism between cognitive and affective domains. (NB)

Defines existentialism, culture, and cross-cultural counseling and explains how various existential concepts can serve as guidelines for cross-cultural counseling. Advocates finding approach to help counselors and counselor trainees understand how their own cultural identities affect their ability to help culturally different clients. (NB)

Discusses cultural diversity from an international perspective, taking into account two contemporary immigrant groups: international students and Indochinese refugees. Reviews the backgrounds, needs, challenges to counselors, and strengths of these two groups in the hope this overview will give relevancy to many cross-cultural counseling concepts.…

Discusses some of the common characteristics of African children wherever they may be, noting their cultural traits inevitably influence their progress in school, specifically when the children are in non-African school settings such as those in the United States. Describes children's role in African society, parental role in character building,…

Summarizes the need for cross-cultural counselors to identify themselves socially and culturally and to learn to respect cultural values and the importance of different societies. Discusses reasons, roles, and approaches of cross-cultural counseling in the newly evolving states of the Caribbean region. (ABL)