ABSTRACT
Psychologists engaged in psychological assessment work in clinical and counseling settings are, more than ever before, encountering clients from a multitude of national, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. Published data show that the number of naturalized citizens in the United States (U.S.) totaled 730,259 in 2015, with the largest number, 261,374, from Asia (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, December, 2016). Additionally, the number of nonimmigrant international students in the U.S. totaled 1,043,839 in 2015/16, representing a 7% increase over the prior year; leading countries of origin were China, India, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia (Institute of International Education, 2017). Our professional work also brings us into contact with international persons on temporary work visas, asylum seekers, as well as undocumented immigrants (the latter group estimated at 11 million in 2015; Krogstad, Passel, & Cohn, 2017, April). Thus, the demands for mental health services, including assessment of personality and psychopathology, are on an upswing. However, some nationally diverse individuals, such as immigrants and their families, are reluctant to participate in assessment or seek therapy due to the stigma associated with mental health disorders, language problems, unfamiliarity with the idea of testing and assessment as well as with the U.S. mental health care system, perception of low cultural competence in psychologists, and their cultural distrust of mental health services and practitioners (APA, 2017).
