ABSTRACT
Counsellors who work effectively with African American children, adolescents, adults, and elderly recognize the challenges associated with each lifespan stage as well as the rich diversity of African American culture. Providing appropriate counselling intervention for African American clients requires an understanding of each individual's culture, family, and communication, all of which interact in a complex fashion to create clients with unique needs. Effective counsellors also recognize and gain an understanding of the decades of racism and discrimination that the African American people have experienced. This chapter examines African Americans in all stages of the lifespan continuum and explores counselling issues germane to these clients. Describing African American children requires an understanding of the differences within their culture. The degree to which African American children experience communication problems varies considerably with socioeconomic class, geographic location, and language of the parents.
