Diversity From the Ecological Perspective

This chapter illustrates diversity in counseling through an analysis of the multifaceted nature of cultural identity, the intersectionality of multiple roles and life spaces, and the interaction of individuals with various contexts from the ecological perspective. It provides an alternative framework for understanding diversity and for developing multicultural competency with ecological validity. Counselors working with diverse populations need to facilitate meaning-making processes with clients and empower clients to be change agents themselves. Viewing human behavior as the result of the interaction of person and environment is exactly what the ecological counseling approach emphasizes. Being aware of the importance of multiculturalism in counseling is widely accepted as a critical qualification of being a competent counselor. Connecting the various elements of individuals' life spaces to make the counseling process a meaningful one for clients is what multicultural competence should be.