Primary Objective

To help make counseling both more effective and more culturally sensitive

Secondary Objectives

To respond to the challenge of evidence-based treatments in counseling within and across cultures

To emphasize the importance of relationship-based aspects of culturally oriented counseling, such as the therapeutic alliance and empathy

To highlight the importance of cultural adaptations of counseling in delivering services to culturally diverse populations

To narrow the gulf between research and practice by encouraging the further investigation of independent versus interdependent self, individualism–collectivism across and within cultures, and other relevant topics

To integrate universal, cultural, and individual strands of counseling into a practically applicable model of delivering human services to a culturally heterogeneous population