He says that if he could go back, he would go to school, he would embrace who he is, he would be honest with family about his sexuality, and he would have found a spiritual life sooner. Bruce is quite spiritual now. He is no longer Baptist, but rather he has taken up belief in the tenets of Buddhism, which he claims has brought him much peace inside as well as has made him more tolerant of others -- including whites. One interesting fact about Bruce is that he says that he has never had a very strong identity to gay men either -- whether they are white or black. He seems to have a very general isolated attitude about life. He is quite non-trusting of anyone. He does admit to having more of a connectedness with gay men, but he claims that is probably because he felt like those were the men he had to be connected with. He did have a good relationship with his mother as a child, but now he rarely calls her. She is still in the south and is in her eighties. He has some guilt about not being closer to her.

Annotated Bibliography

Arredondo, Patricia. (2010). Book review. Cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology,16(1), 99. American Psychological Association.

Arredondo (2010) reviews Pedersen, Draguns, Lonner, & Trimble (2008) book, Counseling across cultures (sixth edition). Arredondo states that with the first edition of the book (1976) the authors opened up an all new space of knowledge for the counseling professions. The book promotes competency development when it comes to cross-cultural counseling, giving unique perspectives that are relevant to those who wish to counsel individual of a multicultural background.

Butler-Byrd, Nola M. (2010). An African-American supervisor's reflections on multicultural supervision. Training and education in professional

psychology,4(1), 11-15. American Psychological Association.

In Butler-Byrd's (2010) article, she reflects on how as an African-American supervisor working with multicultural diverse backgrounds she has endured challenges and benefited from those challenges.

Comas-Dias, Lillian. (2010). On being a Latina healer: voice, consciousness, and identity. Psychotherapy theory, research, practice, training,47(2), 162-168.

American Psychological Association.

Comas-Dias (2010) discusses how she became a healer and how diversity (as a Latina) has influenced her life as well as her approach to psychotherapy. Her article gives the psychotherapist suggestions for how to work effectively with individuals of a multicultural background.

Fields, Andrew J. (2010). Multicultural research and practice: theoretical issues and maximizing cultural exchange. Professional psychology: research and practice,4(3), 196-201. American Psychological Association.

Fields' (2010) article looks act different literature on cross-cultural approaches to assessment, research, and clinical practice. He comes up with recommendations for using a 'cultural exchange' approach when working with patients of a multicultural background.

Fouad, Nadya A. (2006). Multicultural guidelines: implementation in an urban counseling psychology program. Professional psychology: research and practice,37(1), 6-13. American Psychological Association.

In this article, Fouad (2006) discusses how faculty can create 'culture-centered' programs. The article gives a rational for a culture-centered approach to psychological education and training and the challenges that arise when using a culture-centered approach.

Hays, Pamela A. (2009). Integrating evidence-based practice, cognitive-behavior therapy, and multicultural therapy: ten steps for culturally competent practice.

Professional psychology: research and practice,40(4), 354-360. American

Psychological Association.

Hays' (2010) article discusses both the advantages and the possible limitations that are involved in the implementation of CBT (cognitive-behavior therapy) and multicultural considerations, with limitations...

(2010). My racial identity development and supervision: a self-
reflection. Training and education in professional psychology,4(1), 26-28.

American Psychological Association.

Lo's (2010) article uses Helms & Cook's Color Racial Identity model as a framework in which she examines her experience as an Asian immigrant psychologist. She points out how one's racial identity development can shape professional experience and vice versa.

Reynaga-Abiko, Geneva. (2010). Opportunity amidst challenge: reflections of a Latina supervisor. Training and education in professional psychology,4(1), 19-

25. American Psychological Association.

Latina supervisor, Reynaga-Abiko (2010, discusses a myriad of different cultural, ethical, and organizational issues as related to her career. She discusses the salience of sociocultural background and the assumption of multicultural competence bases on a non-white identity.

Steinfeldt, Jesse A. & Wong, Y. Joel. (2010). Multicultural training on American

Indian issues: testing the effectiveness of an intervention to change attitudes toward native-themed mascots. Cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology,16(2), 110-115. American Psychological Association.

Steinfeldt & Wong's (2010) study looks at the different attitudes toward Native-themed mascots in the context of color-blind attitudes pertaining to race. The results illustrate that higher color-blind racial attitudes are related to lower awareness of the offensiveness of Native-themed mascots. The research states that an awareness of the marginalization of American Indians, especially related to Native-themed mascots, can lessen color-blind racial attitudes.

Fact Sheet

Topics:

How being both African-American and gay has shaped them as a person

What are some coping mechanisms or support groups the individual relies upon

What are some of the feelings that go along with being African-American and gay -- are they separate issues? Or do they merge into one another?

Focus on Solutions:

1) Health

2) Home

3) Work

4) Faith

Focus on Coping Strategies:

Problem focused: negative thoughts, replacing them; gathering information; using problem-solving techniques

Emotion focused: Activities that bring happiness; activities that enhance self-esteem and bring pleasure; activities that bring a certain level of relaxation.

Some of the most effective counseling methods for this population: active listening; minimal advice giving; adding some amount of perspective to certain situations especially in dealing with health issues (HIV / AIDS); talking about and confirming the level of concern for the patients or -- again -- putting a situation into perspective.

Beliefs/values: Some of the beliefs and values of this population may have racist undertones because of prejudiced attitudes the patients have had to deal with. They may believe that white people look down upon them for being black. They may believe that black people look down upon them for being gay. They may feel that God has given them an unfair "hand" in life because they are both black and gay. They may believe that they will never be able to show their true selves to anyone because they will not be accepted.