Counselors and future counselors face a variety of challenges as society becomes more diverse and laden with differing value systems. As the Code ofEthics andStandards of Practice (American Counseling Association, 1995) is changed to become more inclusive of the values held in a diverse society, changes in counselor preparation to incorporate these changing VQIues are necessary,The authors discuss how values and ethics inform counselor preparation and recommend the application of J. A. Banks's (1981Banks's ( ,1988) ) multicultural educational pedagogy to counselor preparation programs.
s U S . society moves further into the 21st century, it becomes increasingly necessary that professional counselors be well prepared to ad-A dress the needs of a diverse population. U.S. society is composed of people from different races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, religions, indigenous heritages, first languages, socioeconomic levels, and family backgrounds and makeup. Diversity-competent counselors are needed to meet the challenge of serving this emerging population, whose values are often different from those of the dominant society.
Perhaps the most objective evidence of the need for training multiculturally competent counselors is the underutilization of counseling services by people from nonmainstream groups. Several authors (e.g., Arbona, 1996; Leong, Wagner, & Tata, 1995; Sue & Sue, 1999) have described and documented this underutilization. Although phenomena such as differing cultural values and language barriers contribute to mfrequent use of counseling resources by people from nonmainstream groups, inappropriate and culturally insensitive counseling practices also have a negative effect (Sue & Sue, 1999;Trusty, 2002).
The values and ethical principles inherent in the counseling profession continue to develop and change as counselors become more attuned to the needs of an ever-changing and diverse population. Changes are most notable between the American Association of Counseling and Development (AACD; 1988) Ethical Standards and the American Counseling Association's (ACA; 1995) Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. The 1988 AACD code of ethics paid little attention to multicultural issues; however, the 1995 ACA ethics code