ABSTRACT
As noted in the recent report of the Surgeon General (Department of Health and Human Services, 2001), “culture counts” in the conceptualization and implementation of services to minority populations. That is, cultural factors affect all aspects of psychological health and illness, as well as how and whether people seek help, types of help they seek, types of social supports and coping skills they use, the stigma attached to seeking psychological services, and, most importantly, the meanings people associate with their psychological problems. The Surgeon General’s report provides overwhelming documentation that the best available research indicates racial and ethnic minority groups have less access to care and overall receive poorer quality mental health services. Chicana/o people are no exception.
