While the focus of the interstate compact for most professional counselors has understandably been on how its implementation will open up literal new frontiers of and for their practice, the implementation of the compact will also provide new opportunities for the clients themselves, primarily by broadening their access to care.

From a multicultural perspective, this loosening of the geographic constraints offers a number of possibilities for clients. The very reason for the existence of a “multicultural” approach is the inherent lack of access to mental health care that is compatible and accordant with certain needs of certain clients.¹ In general, the psychosocial backgrounds of counselors tend to differ significantly from that of their clients, particularly if the counselor works in a community mental health center, or otherwise accepts state-funded third party payers such as medicare or
medicaid.²

A clear and unfortunately common example would be that of a client that doesn’t speak English. Even in a state like Colorado, in which one in five residents identify as “Hispanic,”³ finding a counselor that speaks Spanish is often a challenge.⁴ If a client speaks an even less common language such as Swahili, or Tagalog, the obstacles to accessing culturally competent care are even more daunting, and community Mental Health Agencies are often relegated to paying for interpreters to serve non-English speaking clients. However, with the implementation of the interstate compact, non-English clients could seek care from a bilingual counselor outside of the state, from a region where their culture of origin may be more thoroughly represented, from a counselor more aware of their cultural realities.

In fact, the traditional geographical limitations in and of themselves are relevant to the multicultural discussion. It’s easy to imagine situations where a client moves from one area of the country to another, and would like to meet with a counselor from “back home” because of culturally-specific reasons. If someone moves from, say, Jackson, Mississippi to Billings, Montana, it may be difficult for that person to find a counselor in Montana sensitive to the culture shock that may be conjured by such a transition. However, a fully-functioning interstate compact would mitigate such obstacles, and offer the client the option of meeting with a counselor from their culture of origin, or, at the very least, provide a widened access to counselors who may be more attuned to the client’s cultural needs.