For courses in multicultural counseling or any human services course that directs attention to serving diverse clients.

Written to explore the lives and potential counseling problems of African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, European American, and American Indian populations, this text considers the powerful influences of a client's developmental stage and cultural background. Intervening with clients from counseling specific groups during various lifespan stages, and professional issues/future directions of the multicultural counseling field are also covered.  The text is organized into three parts and seventeen chapters.  Part one provides background knowledge for intervening with clients of differing backgrounds.  Part two centers on understanding and counseling African American, American Indian, Asian American, European American, and Hispanic American clients, as well as lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients in the various lifespan stages.  Part three discusses professional issues in multicultural counseling and explores future directions in the field. The book takes the perspective that gays, lesbians, and bisexuals also have a culture of "sexual orientation," and the authors provide counseling strategies for this diverse group.  Also important, the book addresses gender, social class, and current issues.  Experiential exercises are provided in the appendix and are mentioned in the appropriate chapters.  

The fourth edition of Multicultural Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Life Span Perspective is the only multicultural counseling text to take a lifespan approach from a perspective of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, maintaining that integrating multicultural and lifespan considerations are crucial to counseling effectiveness.