Treating Ethnic Minority Clients 501Nearly a half century ago, the sociopolitical climate of the
civil rights movement set the stage for changes and the need
to work differently with people of color. In the 1950s and
1960s the public at large came to realize that race, skin color,
oppression, segregation, and discrimination issues cut across
society and impacted ethnic groups in various ways. Political
activists and peoples’ cries for help raised public conscious-
ness to the realities of racism and oppression and their role in
dealing with the problems of everyday living for people of
color in the United States.
Serious attention by psychologists to diversity issues
began in 1973 during the Vail Conference (H. F. Myers,
Echemendia, & Trimble, 1991). The recognition of a need
for change was stepped up a notch when the 1977 Presi-
dent’s Commission on Mental Health’s Special Populations
Task Force (1978) concluded that culturally different indi-
viduals were clearly underserved or inappropriately served
by the mental health system in this country. Yet in 1994, the
Center for Mental Health Services in Rockville, Maryland,
reported a bleak ratio of 3 to 1 of ethnic minorities needing
mental health services to available minority professionals.
According to Wohlford (1992), active minority mental
health professionals were around 8.8% of approximately
148,579 active mental health service providers in the United
States.
H. F. Myers et al. (1991) very poignantly summarized the
situation, “Given the present state of professional training,
the average new PhD in psychology is only slightly more
competent to meet the mental health needs of our culturally
diverse population than are psychologists who completed
training 20 years ago” (Casas, 1995, p. 311).
Two events in the last decade had a leading impact on psy-
chology and on the preparation of all psychologists to work
with ethnic minority clients, not only new students to the
field, but also those trained 20 years ago. First, the American
Psychological Association’s endorsement of the August 1990
Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic,
Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations;and, second,
the National Institutes of Health issuance in 1994 of guide-
lines requiring representation of women and ethnic minori-
ties in research in order to receive funding.
The significance of the APAGuidelineswas documented
by surveys mailed to 500 randomly selected psychologists in
the fall of 1986 and again in the spring of 1992 (Caldwell-
Colbert, 1998). An increase in people responding from 1986
to 1992 suggested a heightened awareness to the importance
of therapy with the ethnically diverse.
Despite the apparent awareness of the needs, there were
only slight changes in the number of adult clients seen when
looked at by ethnic group. Except for Native Americans
and Asian Americans, the reported percentages of clients
treateddecreasedfor all other ethnic groups in 1992. Native
American clients treated increased from 2% to 3% and Asian
Americans clients treated stayed the same at 2%.Treating Ethnic Minority Clients
A. TOY CALDWELL-COLBERT AND VELMA M. WILLIAMSDuring 1999, five ethnic minorities assumed office as pres-
ident of their divisions, with all four ethnic minority groups
represented. In addition to Bingham, Sue, and Vasquez,
Steven James, a Native American, accepted the presidency of
the Psychology of Religion and Siang-Yang Tan, an Asian
American, became president of the Society for the Psycholog-
ical Study of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues.
In 1996, there were 11 ethnic minority persons holding
office in a Division (excluding Division 45, the Society for
the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minorities, which would
be expected to have elected ethnic minorities). By 1999, the
count increased to 26—a 136% increase. By 2000, the num-
bers expanded to 51.
Regarding APA standing Boards and Committees, the
number of ethnic minorities increased from 18 in 1996 to 43
in 1999 for a 139% increase. By 2000, the number increased
even further to 54. An observation was made of the contrast
between the Planning Committee members and the photo-
graphs on the wall of the APA board of directors, which were
nearly all white persons. At the 1998 APA meetings in Boston,
the presidents of the four autonomous ethnic minority psycho-
logical associations—Asian American Psychological Associa-
tion, Association of Black Psychologists, National Hispanic
Psychological Association, Society of Indian Psychologists—
were present to receive Presidential Citations recognizing their
associations’ contributions to ethnic minority agendas.