Introduction to Counseling provides an overview of counseling and the helping professions from the perspective of art and science: the science of counseling that generates a knowledge base proven to promote competency and efficacy in the practitioner, and the art of using this knowledge base to build skills that can be applied sensitively to clients in a multicultural society. The Fourth Edition has been organized into three sections: An overview of counseling and the counseling process; developing a personal approach to counseling from a multicultural perspective; and special approaches and settings. The text stays true to its original focus by addressing such topics of multicultural counseling as gender, culture, and sexual orientation, as well as communicating how multiculturalism can be integrated into all aspects of counseling rather than viewed as a separate entity.