Examines conflicts that can arise in multicultural counseling relationships when the strategies used by counselors and clients to handle cultural diversity are different. Strategies to cope with cultural diversity include assimilation (becoming a member of the new culture), acculturation (affiliating with the new culture while not becoming a full member), alternation (associating with different cultural groups at different times), integration (interacting with more than one culture at a time), fusion (creating a new culture from the strengths of different cultures), and separation (associating only with one’s cultural group). However, individuals may use more than one strategy at a time or change strategies in different social contexts. Conflicts in multicultural counseling can occur, for example, when a counselor expects an assimilation or acculturation strategy from a client, and the client feels that the values of his or her culture of origin are not being respected. Such conflicts can be resolved by matching clients to therapists and by expanding the counselor’s range of coping strategies. In particular, counselors need to employ the alternation or integration strategy with the cultural groups with which they work in order to anticipate and resolve clashes with members of that group.
