Alterity Models in Counseling: When We Talk About Diversity, What Are We Actually Talking About?

In this article, the author identifies six distinct models of alterity (the state of being different) that guide counselors’ practice with clients from traditionally under-represented groups. The models are: political correctness, difference blindness, multiculturalism, structural diversity, social justice advocacy, and decolonization. The article involves (a) illustrating each model with a contextualizing vignette, (b) reviewing the interdisciplinary literature related to each model, and (c) arguing how each model may be expressed by counselors in potentially positive or negative ways. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.