Written to explore the lives and potential counseling problems of African American, Asian American, European American, Hispanic American, and Native American populations, this text considers the powerful influences of a client's developmental stage and cultural background. It maintains that integrating multicultural and lifespan considerations is crucial to counseling effectiveness. The authors also 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. Intervening with clients from diverse backgrounds, understanding and counseling specific groups during various lifespan stages, and professional issues/future directions of the multicultural counseling field are also covered.