This chapter explores the impact of acculturation on three diverse U.S. populations: Hispanics, represented by a specific focus on Mexican immigrants; African Americans; and Native Hawaiians. It reviews relevant acculturation theories developed to explain cultural and psychological changes occurring in racial and ethnic populations in the United States as a result of interactions with the majority racial/ethnic population. The chapter presents Berry’s model of acculturation in particular, as a helpful theoretical model for clinicians working in neuropsychological rehabilitation to use for understanding psychological issues related to acculturation pressures. It also highlights the unique historical context of acculturation for each ethnic group and its effect on their acculturation experience as well as mental and physical health outcomes. The chapter provides rehabilitation psychologists and counselors with culturally relevant assessment and intervention recommendations for working with ethnically diverse clients.

This chapter explores the definition of mental health as a culturally prescribed concept with special emphasis on the topic of strength-based and resiliency-focused assessment. It discusses the complexities of psychological assessment with new immigrants as well as the determination of appropriate levels of intervention, including specialized treatment options. Culturally and linguistically appropriate therapeutic services and models will increase the effectiveness and efficaciousness of mental health treatment. A major mental health vulnerability in new immigrant populations is often the variety of traumatic experiences that has forced these individuals into the role of immigrants. Personal crisis, including any psychological/addictive symptoms experienced, should be addressed immediately by the mental health professional. The primary relationship between immigrant clients and mental health practitioners should be created and maintained. In initiating mental health interventions with immigrant children, it is ideal to engage the caretakers and complete family system in order to ensure treatment compliance and success.

Establishing rapport, building therapeutic alliance, and establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries are all important therapeutic skills especially when working with victims of military sexual trauma (MST). Along with being caring psychotherapists, clinicians may be called upon to play a key part in third-party issues, such as legal issues including custody battles or in reporting on clients for MST Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) service-connected disability benefits. This chapter reviews psychotherapeutic issues that arise when treating those with MST, specifically, barriers to treatment, establishing trust and rapport, boundaries, third-party issues, and documentation. The issues that prevent MST survivors from seeking mental health treatment mirror problems that service members may have had in reporting it, including fear of blame and stigma. To protect clients and therapists alike, it is also important to be mindful of other common boundary testing by trauma clients.

Over the last decade, there has been tremendous growth in scholarly and professional interest in grandparents raising grandchildren. This chapter refers to grandparents who are raising their grandchildren as custodial grandparents and their families as grandfamilies. Despite the many negatives often linked to grandparent caregiving, such grandparents are dedicated to the welfare of their grandchildren, are resilient and resourceful in coping with the challenges of raising a grandchild, and must be understood in terms of the social–interpersonal, developmental, cultural, and policy-related contexts in which they care for grandchildren. Good physical health is also protective in nature for custodial grandparents, though not all research supports this conclusion. Relative to physical health, the mental health concerns of grandparents raising their grandchildren has received less attention. Life-span developmental theory emphasizes multiple antecedents of developmental change.

This chapter examines the social, political, legal, and practical dimensions of sexually violent predator (SVP) civil commitment, evaluating the policies’ promises, limitations, and viability as sustainable elements of sex offender management practice. The sociopolitical etiology of SVP laws carries significant implications for those charged with implementing the civil commitment strategy. A major contextual development facilitating the rise of SVP commitment policies was the significant transformation of the public mental health system, particularly regarding its role in managing forensic populations. With public mental health agencies viewing forensic services as part of their core mission, the development of inpatient programs for sex offenders emerges as a natural extension of the blurred lines separating the criminal justice and mental health systems. Research on the predictive accuracy of SVP forensic evaluations suggests that, although forensic psychologists show some ability to predict general violence, predictions regarding sexual violence may be no more accurate than chance.

This chapter describes how to enter the counseling field, build a successful practice, and how to work effectively with attorneys and judges as well as parents and children. It also includes forms for taking interview notes, templates for writing reports, examples of actual reports, sample visitation schedules, and case studies. One of the case studies presented is a court order, a generic order appointing an evaluator, arrived in one’s mail. The names and addresses of both attorneys were also included, along with the name of the judge assigned to this case. As the evaluator assigned to this case, one will interview both parties, the minor children, and any other pertinent collateral contacts, as well as review school, medical, mental health, and any other records requested. The cost of the evaluation will be split equally between the parties and the cost of court testimony will be borne by the requesting party.

Forensics relies on relationship- building, active listening, reflection, confrontation, hypothesis, and deduction. It uses all the skills of a professional counselor and then makes additional demands in the forms of relationships with clients, attorneys, and judges. Forensic counseling covers a broad spectrum: from counseling with juvenile delinquents and prisoners to working with pathologists, forensic examiners, and law enforcement officers. Forensics is the process of relating or dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems. In other words, forensics uses knowledge to better understand facts and circumstances for the purpose of clarifying legal issues. This book discusses forensic area of child custody evaluations; other texts spotlight mental competency, profiling, personality assessments, and still more services often provided by mental health professionals to the courts. It is intended primarily for licensed professional counselors but can easily be understood and applied by practitioners in any of the other mental health professions.

This chapter discusses the roles of counselors in family court and provides step-by-step guidelines on how to expand one’s counseling practice to include family forensic services. It examines myths and misunderstandings regarding forensic family practice. It is important for an evaluator who works in family court to have a clear understanding of what is true and what is not when it comes to work in family law. Years ago mental health professionals were trained that children, given the passage of time, suffered no lasting effects from divorce. People generally believed that children “snapped out” of any emotional or behavioral problems caused by a divorce. Mothers were often automatically assumed to be the child’s primary caregivers and were thus granted primary custody. But over the years research has shown that although mothers are important in a child’s life, fathers are equally important.

This chapter provides specific guidelines and examples of how to communicate effectively with attorneys, conduct interviews with parents and children, make recommendations for custody and visitation, write reports, and successfully testify in court. It includes forms for taking interview notes, templates for writing reports, examples of actual reports, sample visitation schedules, and case studies. One must write a report that is complete and understandable by the attorneys, the court, and the parents. Generally speaking, family courts look at all relevant factors promoting the child’s best interests. This includes the wishes of the child’s parent or parents; the wishes of the child; the interaction and interrelationship of the child with his or her parents and siblings; the child’s adjustment to his or her home, school, and community; the mental and physical health, if any, of domestic violence in the presence of the child.

Quality of life is considered to be a vague, subjective, multidimensional concept that incorporates all life dimensions and experiences. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines quality of life as "a person or group’s perceived physical and mental health over time" (CDC, 2010; para 1). This chapter explores the concept of quality of life, the impact of disability at various life stages, and the impact of various types of disabilities on quality of life. The quality of life is a difficult construct to measure because it is impacted by numerous objective and subjective variables and individual preferences. For people with disabilities, additional factors related to their health conditions may challenge attaining optimum quality of life. In addition, developmental progression may both have an effect on, and be affected by, disability because roles, responsibilities, goals, and outlooks are affected by life stage.