Cognitive-behavior therapy for ethnic minority adolescents: Broadening our perspectives

Adolescents are a burgeoning, and sometimes challenging, section of the population. In addition, a reality for cognitive-behavior therapists is the rapidly increasing culturally diverse client base. While cognitive-behavioral procedures have been shown to be effective for a variety of problems experienced by adolescents, these treatments often lack consideration of the role of ethnicity in adolescent development and mental health problems. Thus, the increasing number of both ethnic minority and adolescent populations in combination with the challenges involved in providing treatment to these populations emphasize the need for efforts to improve the relevance and effectiveness of cognitive-behavior therapy with ethnic minority adolescents. This article discusses the complexity of the developmental and cultural context of treating ethnic minority adolescents and the utility of cognitive-behavioral procedures for providing a strong basis for advancing our treatment efforts.