Chapter 9. Counseling South American Immigrants

Abstract The Hispanic population in the United States is growing exponentially. There are a total of 1,506,654 South Americans in the United States who have come from Spanish-speaking countries. Most immigrants, if not all, experience difficulties triggered by migration, discrimination, acculturation, and second language acquisition. In this chapter, we briefly discuss major issues associated with migration and present literature and research on the construct of social support. We propose that integrating and utilizing social support during treatment will facilitate the adjustment process for the individual. We present interventions that allow the therapist to provide support while encouraging the client to seek support within him/herself and from other sources in the environment.