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The holidays bring together families with long-held traditions, customs and celebrations. These holiday traditions are founded in our roots…our cultural identity, religious beliefs, and family values. The customs and traditions are sacred. But what happens when two families merge a multi-cultural or interracial marriage? Each family brings with them their own cultural expectations with different values and priorities. The pressures to conform and to honor those traditions of the other family can cause stress and fracture points not only in the marriage but between the in-laws and extended families. Multi-cultural families have a unique need to bend, flex, compromise and accommodate one another’s contrasting ways.

In our show, When Cultural Expectations Collide During the Holidays: Strategies for Multicultural Families, Daniel Huerta, a licensed clinical social worker with expertise working with multi-cultural families will discuss the common issues that cause conflict within interracial marriages, and the strategies for managing those cultural expectations.

Daniel Huerta works at Focus on the Family and has a private counseling practice. He was born in Mexico City, and is a bilingual Licensed Clinical Social Worker, specializing as a counselor in the treatment of disruptive behavior disorders, anxiety and depression in adolescents, children and their families. With degrees from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs and the University of Denver, Daniel has worked as a social worker in a low-income school district, directed a mentor program at a child placement agency, and served as an adjunct faculty member at Pikes Peak Community College. He has also served as a board member on the El Paso County Mental Health Association, and is one of the authors in the books the First Five Years of Marriage, The Smart Grooms Guide to the First Year of Marriage, and The Savvy Bride’s Guide to the First Year of Marriage. He and his wife, Heather have been married for 15 years and have two young children. Daniel is also the creator of Together 4 Ever Bands , which is a symbol of commitment within the family.

For More Information: Daniel Huerta