In general, in order to ensure social justice in their work with Latino/a clients, counselors are called to do many things: participate in and learn about Latino/a communities, recognize and reinforce the strengths of Latino/a clients, gain knowledge and specialized training in counseling Latino/a clients and, most importantly, recognize and work through their own biases and assumptions. By doing so, counselors will be armed with an open attitude for work with the dynamically evolving Latino/a culture in the United States.

Trust is a central issue in working with people from oppressed cultures. Counselors must realize that when any client participates in counseling she or he is taking a personal risk. That risk is even greater when that client is part of a group that has been historically oppressed and marginalized. Consequently, counselors must respond by taking risks of their own (e.g., stepping outside of the office, participating in the community, learning some Spanish or at least learning to pronounce Spanish names, and/or becoming an advocate for Latino/a issues) as ways to demonstrate to clients that they are culturally committed and alert.

The call to be culturally alert is complicated by the fact that Latino/a culture in the United States is dynamic and constantly changing. It is not uncommon to see culture interpreted differently among Latinos/as from the same country or even within the same family. Given these complications, the counselor has the daunting task of being aware of both general cultural themes (e.g., importance of family, acculturation conflicts, the meaning of independence, gender roles) and at the same time needing to understand how these cultural themes are interpreted and lived by a Latino/a individual and her or his family. Given estimates that by the year 2050 one in four people in the United States will be Latino/a, counselors must do their best to be culturally alert in their work with Latinos/as.