Within the United States, many international students may experience the process of acculturation. Acculturation exists when an individual, or group of individuals, from one culture, encounters another culture. Within that context is the experience of acculturative stress (AS). AS is the negative outcome resulting from the pressure and unsuccess of acculturation. In the psychology (and sociology) literature AS is measured among many international communities for many more host countries. Within the United States, Asian International Students (AIS) especially have been seen to have higher rates of AS and a greater hesitation to pursue therapeutic intervention to mitigate the symptoms and related outcomes of that AS. Additionally, the resources offered do not always meet the unique needs of the AIS community. This paper explores the concept of AS as it relates to the AIS community, the assessments used to analyze the effects of AS among AIS, the unique challenges experienced by AIS while studying in the United States (including language barriers, perceived discrimination, academic pressure, and social isolation), best practices established within the counseling community to help combat AS therapeutically and through advocacy, and provides a sample training resource that counselors might use to improve their effectiveness with AS
