This book has grown out of our individual experiences as well as our
shared ones; out of our differences as well as our commonalities; and
out of our conflicts as well as our convergences. Among us there are
dif- ferences in gender; in individual, family, community, and racial
histo- ries; in life experiences, identities, and career paths; and even
in reasons for writing this book. Of course there are also
commonalities. We enjoy one another's company; we enjoy working
together; and we feel en- riched from our collaboration. We have written
this book out of our complete selves, not just our professional selves.
The original objective of our book was to present to practitioners of
psychotherapy, trainers of psychotherapists, and psychotherapy stu-
dents a model of conducting psychotherapy that actively acknowledges and
builds upon the ethnic and racial heritage of both therapist and client.
We have found that to fulfill that objective we need also to acknowledge
and build upon the psychological ecology of the therapist and client;
and we also need to outline the kind of research necessary if we are to
develop and evaluate the perspectives presented here. Those perspectives
are embodied in what we have come to call the ethnic validity model
(EVM) of psychotherapy.