ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the development and the delivery of a culturally sensitive counselling service, in response to the needs of Black and Minority Ethnic communities, entitled Mother tongue. Clinical examples and experiences are used to illustrate the way in which a bridge is forged between clinical and community development work, in order to provide a relevant service to the target client group. It examines how the therapeutic boundaries have to be renegotiated, as the work is located in a particular social and political context. Community development is a way of working that leads to the development of “active and sustainable communities based on social justice and mutual respect”. At the heart of the Achieving Better Community Development approach is the idea of community empowerment, described as a “core purpose” of community development, the other core purpose being to gain improvement in the quality of community life.
