This course content is intended to provide practitioners with an introduction to the important role of cultural identity in the treatment process. The author's overriding goal is to provide information about Latino and Hispanic identity that will assist practitioners in better understanding the great diversity presented by their clients.

The course begins with an overview of the concepts of race, ethnicity, and culture and how these concepts work to form Latino and Hispanic identity. In addition, the concept of Latino and Hispanic as an American identity is explored; a cursory background of Latin American nations is provided as a point of reference; and the application and importance of cultural competency skills is reviewed. The course concludes with the incorporation of culture in the diagnostic process and the utilization of specific skills (scientific mindedness, dynamic sizing, and cultural-specific expertise) is illustrated through three vignettes.

This short primer course is intended for practitioners who now serve or will serve Latino and Hispanic clients. For practitioners with little experience working with Latino and Hispanic clients, this course will provide a useful platform from which to build more culture specific expertise. For practitioners with more experience, it will serve as a review and, hopefully, given additional insight into how to further one's skill set.

After completing the course content, readers will:

1. View Latinos and Hispanics as a heterogeneous group with profound diversity.



2. Gain a basic foundation of cultural knowledge regarding Latinos and Hispanics.



3. Better understand the sociopolitical experiences of Latinos and Hispanics in the United States.



4. Better understand how to incorporate specific cultural competence skills into their therapeutic work with Latinos and Hispanics.