Describes the advantages of the skills training model and the concept of bicultural competence as applicable to a wide range of problem areas particularly relevant to American Indian people. Provides a guide for social competence in which this population is able to meet the general demands of cultural adaptation. (LLL)

A skills training approach provides a conceptual framework from which human services can be provided for the personal and emotional needs of Indian people without the subtle, culturally erosive effect of traditional psychotherapy. Some 30 tribal groups and agencies participated in a cultural adaptation of an assertive coping-skills training…