Multicultural counseling takes place when a counselor and
client are from differing cultural groups. Because significant
demographic changes are taking place in the United States,
multiculturalism is becoming increasingly important. In fact,
multiculturalism has been called the “fourth force” in helping
(Pederson,1991,ascitedinSkovholt&Rivers,2007,p.15).Theother
forces include psychodynamic, humanistic/existential, and behavioral
counseling theories and methods. Knowledge and skills related to all
four of these forces are critical for understanding behavior in the
counseling process and for effective counseling in a multicultural
context. Therefore, seven divisions of the American Counseling
Association (ACA) have endorsed the multicultural counseling
competencies developed by the Association for Multicultural
Counseling and Development (AMCD; Sue & Sue, 1999).