Culture‐Specific Assets to Consider When Counseling Latina/o Children and Adolescents

Abstract

strength-based cultural considerations for counseling latina/o children and adolescents are not well articulated in the literature. furthermore, research and demographic data indicate concerns for latinas/os, such as acculturative stress and discrimination. this article describes treatment applications focused on latina/o youth's cultural strengths, including family bonds, bilingual abilities, and bicultural skills.Métodos de conserjería basados en rasgos positivos de niños y adolescentes latinos no se han articulado en la literatura. además, las investigaciones y los datos demográficos presentan problemas con respeto a presión de acultivación, discriminación, y habilidad limitada en ingles. este artículo describe tratamiento centrado en los rasgos culturales positivos de la juventud latina incluyendo enlaces de la familia, las capacidades bilingües, y las habilidades biculturales.

Cultural and Cognitive Predictors of Academic Motivation Among Mexican American Adolescents: Caution Against Discounting the Impact of Cultural Processes

“…First, counselors and educators can consider cultural processes when working toward improving motivation for Mexican American youth. Scholars have noted that a cultural deficit perspective is often taken when working with Latino youth (Bernal et al, ; Santiago‐Rivera, Arredondo, & Gallardo‐Cooper, ; Villalba, ). Through this perspective, researchers and practitioners often overlook the strengths within the Latino community that can function as protective resources.…”

“…Scholars such as Villalba () have made a call to the counseling profession to encourage the use of immediate and extended family as an asset in helping overcome social challenges and barriers. It is suggested that Latino youth be encouraged to look within their family unit for support and strength.…”

“…The acknowledgment of acculturative stress can have positive implications for Mexican Americans' academic motivation, which may very well be extended to subsequent academic performance. Villalba () made a similar suggestion for working with Latino youth and recommended focusing on resilience among Latino youth. Counselors can work with Latino youth to reframe their skills while simultaneously addressing bicultural stressors.…”

Infusing Cultural Competence and Advocacy Into Strength‐Based Counseling

“…Clients may have developed some of their strengths through the process of dealing with the adversities inherent in occupying nondominant status in mainstream U.S. culture. In addition, counselors should know about the potential positive dimensions of clients’ cultural groups, such as extended kinship networks, familial piety, being bilingual, flexible gender roles, spiritual strengths, storytelling, conceptualization of time and connectedness, resilience, and indigenous healing practices (Burnhill, Park, & Yeh, 2009; Harley, 2009; Sue & Constantine, 2003; Villalba, 2007). Counselors can use culturally oriented questioning (McAuliffe, Grothaus, et al, 2008) with clients to evoke those strengths or suggest these strengths to clients.…”

Psychological Impact of Negotiating Two Cultures: Latino Coping and Self‐Esteem

“…This model outlines various adaptation strategies that can be used to manage life across the mainstream and traditional cultures and identifies biculturalism as a function of individuals' high degree of reference to both cultures. Bicultural behaviors have been thought to be an asset in helping Latino individuals succeed, particularly Latino youth (Villalba, 2007). Much of the conceptualization and measurement of biculturalism relies on assessing acculturation, which in turn is based on proxy variables of cultural knowledge and daily living preferences (Torres & Rollock, 2004).…”