As I thought about what special culture or population I really wanted to learn and understand, Mexican culture kept coming to mind. I think in my practice I will see a lot of Mexican clients and I would really like to understand their culture and not ignore it. Every culture has its own special ways and I as a consultant would like to learn and understand, so one day I can give them the best advice possible. It is important for me to fully understand their culture because not everyone will respond the same way and for there to be a good client/therapist relationship, I need to learn and understand the best I can. In my article I will take a look at Mexican culture, how it differs from American culture, and ways to improve my relationship with a Mexican client. I will examine their social structure, family, religion, language, literacy, communication styles, socioeconomic position, traditional health beliefs and practices, and health care seeking behaviors. Mexican culture is dynamic and expresses itself in various ways, due to individual life experience and personality. Some Mexicans living in the United States may be more or less acculturated to mainstream U.S. culture (Smith, CH 2 online). I will also look at some different types of therapeutic/therapeutic approaches that would be most effective for the Mexican client and what they are dealing with. With all my research and discoveries I hope to learn and become more aware of their culture and possibly others, so that I can be the best therapist I can be. No therapist wants his or her own stereotypes, prejudices, and culture-bound attitudes toward his or her client's culture to make it difficult for him or her to serve him or her effectively (Wright, 1988)..... middle of paper ...... cs. Language barriers can really hinder the client/therapist relationship. It would be very helpful if the therapist could speak or at least understand Spanish, but this is not always the case, usually second and third generation Hispanics speak both Spanish and English and can often switch between languages. Altarriba and Santiago-Rivera (1994) provided a review regarding the use of language in counseling; have suggested that “strategic use of language switching and language mix in the counseling environment can be extremely helpful when treating bilingual clients.” For example, clients may choose to describe some painful problems in their non-dominant language, distancing themselves from the emotionally charged content of those problems. A form of bilingual therapy can prove very successful for some Hispanic clients (Altarriba and Bauer, 1998).