Multicultural Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Lifespan Perspective

Written to explore the lives and potential counseling problems of African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, European American, and Native American populations, this book considers the powerful influences of a client's developmental stage and cultural background. It maintains that integrating multicultural and lifespan considerations are crucial to counseling effectiveness. The authors advocate an understanding of individual differences—cultural, ethnic, racial, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic, and individual—in order for counselors to use existing strategies to their best advantage. Includes coverage on intervening with clients from counseling specific groups during various lifespan stages, and professional issues/future directions of the multicultural counseling field. It provides readers with an awareness of gender issues, how counseling issues differ for various age groups as well as providing current information related to counseling people with disabilities. For professionals in the field of counseling.

The lifespan perspective that provides a framework for the text reflects the current emphasis on lifespan development and stresses the fact that mental health issues and counseling problems differ form children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. It also recognizes the importance of the prenatal months on an individual's development and calls attention to the often dismal realities of prenatal health care.