Applying Multiculturalism: An Ecological Approach to the APA Guidelines

This book expands on APA’s 2017 Multicultural Guidelines by exploring additional research and providing students and professionals with practical applications for clinical practice, teaching and training, research, and consultation.

As codevelopers of the guidelines, the authors provide their unique expertise in multicultural psychology, explaining how to develop cultural responsiveness and humility and become attuned to the diversity of human needs and experiences. They also describe how to create constructive dialogues about social identity and build fruitful bidirectional relationships with clients, students, and organizations, among others.
 
This book takes an intersectional and ecological approach that considers a variety of cultural factors at multiple levels, ranging from small to large groups, to societal and cultural forces, and to historical changes. Within this layered ecological model, each of the ten guidelines is explored in depth in its own chapter, including illustrative case examples and discussion questions. The book concludes with a comprehensive review that ties the ten multicultural guidelines together and highlights key takeaways, as well as providing future considerations for how multicultural psychology will evolve.

Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers, PhD, ABPP, is a professor of psychology in the department of psychology at Long Island University-Brooklyn. Her research focuses on child and adolescent development with an emphasis on understanding cultural resilience and trauma within diverse community contexts. Dr. Clauss-Ehlers served as chair of the task force that developed APA’s 2017 Multicultural Guidelines. She received the 2014 American Counseling Association’s Exemplary Diversity Leadership Award and the 2018 Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development Distinguished Service Award for Exceptional Leadership and Devoted Service. She lives in New York City.
 
Scott J. Hunter, PhD, is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience and pediatrics at the University of Chicago. A licensed clinical psychologist and developmental psychologist, Dr. Hunter is the director of neuropsychology for UChicago Medicine and Comer Children’s Hospital. As a pediatric neuropsychologist, he manages clinical programs and conducts research regarding socioeconomic impact and functional status on children, adolescents, and emerging adults with a range of neurodevelopmental and medical conditions. Dr. Hunter coedited four books published by Cambridge University Press, including Executive Function and Dysfunction: Identification, Assessment, and Treatment and Pediatric Neuropsychological Intervention.
 
Gayle Skawennio Morse, PhD, is a professor and the director of the Community Counseling Program at The Sage Colleges. Her research focuses on American Indian communities and examines the effects of toxic chemicals on human health and ethics and mental health treatment. Dr. Morse is the past president of the Society of Indian Psychologists, an APA fellow, and was awarded the APA Society for the Psychology of Women Section 6 Sweet Grass Award for dedication and professionalism in service. She is a member of the Akwesasne Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) people, from whom she draws principles that guide her professionally.
 
Pratyusha Tummala-Narra, PhD, is a professor of counseling, developmental, and educational psychology and director of doctoral training in counseling psychology at Boston College. Her research focuses on immigration, trauma, race, cultural competence, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. She has chaired or served on multiple committees, including the Multicultural Concerns Committee and the APA Task Force on Revising the Multicultural Guidelines. Dr. Tummala-Narra is associate editor of the Asian American Journal of Psychology and Psychoanalytic Dialogues and senior psychotherapy editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. She authored Psychoanalytic Theory and Cultural Competence in Psychotherapy and edited Trauma and Racial Minority Immigrants.