Diversity in Counseling

Briefly describe the impact you think diversity has on couples and families, as well as the impact it has on therapists offering counseling to couples and families today.

Describe one or two issues related to diversity that may have an impact on a couples or family counseling session and that a therapist might take into account during counseling. In your description, be sure to provide specific examples from your own awareness or experience.
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*Note: the last part of the question needs to come from your own experience. The question asks you to provide some specific example from your own experience in which diversity has impacted a family situation. It could be a mixed marriage, or a home where one was raised by a grandmother, or where the home was headed by a single mother, to name a few.

Introduction

The American Psychological Association (APA, 2000) makes it clear that counselors must have multicultural competency (Standard 2.01) when counseling with clients from a diverse background. With the increasing diversity of the population of the United States, counselors in the mental health profession will often face challenges when working with individuals and couples form a different cultural background. On the other hand, research indicates that families are also affected by diversity. For example, differences in communication, language, characteristic of racial/ethnicity may emerge within the contemporary family unit, and can create challenges. As Smith (1993) …