The ideas of multiculturalism and diversity are often used interchangeably to include the aspects of identity coming from gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, or age. Multiculturalism identifies the wide scope of dimensions of race, religious orientation, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, disability, gender, age, class status, education and other cultural dimensions. These are all serious features of an individual's ethnic and personal identity, and psychologists are optimistic to be aware of issues related to all of these dimensions of culture. In addition, each cultural aspect has distinctive issues and concerns. Each individual belongs to or identifies with a number of identities and some of those identities interact with each other. In order to efficiently help clients, to effectively train students, to be most effective as agents of change and as scientists, psychologists have to be familiar with issues of these multiple identities within and between individuals (Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists- American Psychological Association, 2002).

These emerging issues have begun to overhaul psychology and they way that it is practiced. In order to be culturally diverse people must be culturally aware of their own beliefs and practices so that they can then be in tune with everyone else's. Due to the fact that our society has become so culturally diverse it is imperative that psychologist's embrace culturally diverse practices and ideas. Society not only necessitates it, it demands it. All...

Having culturally diverse guidelines in place in the field of psychology will help practitioners to better deal with all of the diversity that is present and thus work with the different cultures that are present to harmonize society. Education is the key to everyone understanding everyone else. In order for success to be obtained it is important that professionals who work directly with people are the first that are educated so that they can then develop the appropriate tools needed to help everyone else. The greater the number of differences that exist between the groups of people the more complicated the concept of cultural diversity becomes. Evidence-based best practices are the best guidelines that can be used so that everyone is on the same page and working towards stability instead of just creating more issues along the way.
References

Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational

Change for Psychologists- American Psychological Association. (2002). Retrieved April

6, 2010, from American Psychological Association Web site:

http://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/policy/multicultural-guidelines.aspx

Manesse, Jeanne, Saito, Gloria and Rodolfa, Emil. (n.d.). Diversity-Based Psychology: What

Practitioners and Trainers Need to Know. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from Web site:

http://www.psychboard.ca.gov/licensee/diversity-based.pdf