Ethnocultural psychotherapy acknowledges the confluence of both the therapist's and the client's realities. Given that such confluence is accentuated within the dyadic encounter, the therapeutic relationship is recognized as an essential agent of change. The therapist-client relationship is recognized as an essential agent of change. The therapist-client relationship attempts to promote critical consciousness and transformation. It facilitates ethnocultural identification and addresses the attribution of otherness.
Ethnocultural psychotherapy reconciles ethnocultural factors in assessment and treatment.
The ethnocultural assessment was specifically developed as both an assessment and treatment tool. It considers several stages that may have contributed to the development of the client's ethnocultural identity. These stages include ethnocultural heritage, family myth, posttransition analysis, and self-adjustment, as well as factors in the therapist's ethnocultural background to determine specific areas of real or potential overlap with the client's background. Other clinical tools include multigenerational genograms, ethnocultural transitional maps, testimonies, and ethnocultural tales. D.C. Comas-Diaz is the former director of the American Psychological Association's Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs and the former director of the Hispanic Clinic, at Yale University School of Medicine.