Culturally responsive counseling for clients of Asian American and pacific islander descent

Communities of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) have grown immensely, both globally and domestically, especially within the United States. As one of the fastest growing communities in the United States, population metrics demonstrate the need for healthcare and counseling services to address cultural facets specific to AAPI communities. Although an urgent issue facing professional counselors, an influx of worldviews and values have posed more complex concerns to distinctly respond to the heterogeneity of AAPI communities (Presley & Day, 2018; Sue, Sue, et al., 2019). AAPI communities, including Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Indonesian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Hmong communities-to name but a few-also present vastly diverse networks, attitudes toward kinship, and distinct worldviews (Jones-Smith, 2019; Nadal, 2019). Additionally, decades of research have documented explicit and implicit forms of racism and xenophobia toward AAPI communities, pervasively affecting help-seeking behaviors and entry into counseling (e.g., community, couple and family, school; Litam, 2020; Presley & Day, 2018). Consistent with these barriers, counselors carry a significant responsibility in foreseeing potential health disparities and impediments to accessing services while honoring distinctions between and within communities (Beek, 2015; Dewell & Owen, 2015). Professional counselors also have promising opportunities to identify a multitude of systemic levels, social contexts, and distinct values to incorporate within counseling interventions specific to AAPI communities, such as families, filial piety, kinship, stereotypes, and career development (ChenFeng et al., 2017; Y. H. Kim & Choi, 2019; Swanson & Fouad, 2020). Our chapter addresses the following goals: (a) overview of conceptual and empirical research on AAPIs; (b) outline of key historical and current issues facing AAPI communities; and (c) action-based and culturally responsive interventions to promote wellness, resilience, and community organizing for AAPI communities.