Context and Culture: The Initial Clinical Interview with the Latina/o Client

Abstract

Changing social demographics require that psychotherapists and mental health delivery systems become accountable for developing attitudes and skills for working multiculturally. This article immerses the reader in contextual and cultural principles for establishing an initial therapeutic relationship with Latinas/os. These contextual and cultural principles also can be implemented across any theoretical orientation or clinical interview structure psychotherapists employ. This article also reports on data from a subset of participants (n = 27) that self-identified as bilingual, bicultural, and highly culturally competent from a larger mixed-methods study of 89 Latina/o therapists. The results support the utility of personalismo, respeto, charlar (small talk), language and education, and self-disclosure in building respectful relationships with, and in conducting the initial interview with Latina/o clients. These findings are highly consistent with the common factors literature and lend further support to the proposition that the therapeutic relationship serves as the base for therapeutic interventions across all cultures.