Individual and Family Therapy With Muslims, Essay Example

A 2009 article entitled “Therapy with Muslim Couples and Families: BasicGuidelines for Effective Practice” attempts to address the problems that face healthcare practitioners who work with people of this religious and cultural background (Springer et al., 2009). Ultimately, psychologists believe that for counseling to be successful, the counselor must have an understanding of the cultural values and traditions of the person or people being counseled. In the case of individuals and families of Muslim descent, there is a scarcity of research available that can help healthcare practitioners adequately assist them in the problems that specifically pertain to them, such as the discriminations and misunderstandings they typically face as a consequence of the world’s current political climate. As a consequence, this research article attempts to provide information about Muslim families and provide culturally sensitive guidelines for clinical practice.

This will impact my personal practice of doing therapy with Muslims because it indicates the cultural sensitivities that psychologists should have with this group of people. Although I understand that it’s important to be culturally aware of the people that are being counseled, not a lot has been documented on this particular topic. While Springer and his colleagues propose new guidelines for the treatment of these people, I view them as more of a convenient collection of information that psychologists should potentially review when they recognize that one of their therapy client’s is of the Muslim background in case any religious or ethnic discussions are pertinent to their recovery. Particular factors that I will be aware of and implement in my practices include looking for the “inshallah” mindset that indicates everything happens as God wills it, the white coat effect, I will ask whether if it is appropriate for the therapist to be the opposite sex of the client, and I will respect the role of the father in Muslim families during family counseling.

A second article of interest is entitled, “Muslim Mental Health: Considerations for Psychotherapy and Counseling” which provides a literature review that assists the psychologist in defining the ways that will best assist their Muslim clients (Muhammad, 2012). The main argument Muhammad provides is that Muslim’s define mental illness differently than people in other cultures. As a consequence, it is essential to understand this difference and for the psychologist to use this difference in a way that provides the patient an advantage. He recommends that it is important to understand that the husband takes the lead role in deciding many aspects of the Muslim life and that Muslim people typically live two very different roles; their lives within their homes typically differ greatly from their lives at school or place of work. As such, it is important to use this in therapy; Muhammad claims, “it may be important for the therapist to take a more active role by offering advice and providing psycho education to the clients” (Muhammad, 2012).

I would integrate Muhammad’s advice into my counseling by allowing my Muslim clients to fully understand the unique roles they play at both work and at home, and that their dual roles may be the root cause of their stress, anxiety, or depression. While both of their roles are important and necessary, I would recommend that they create a list of their priorities; since they are doing so much at once, it may be useful for them to decide what is more or less important to them, so that while they complete all of their tasks they will put more effort forth on the more important activities and be less stressed out over the less important ones.

References

Muhammad H. (2012). Muslim Mental Health: Considerations for Psychotherapy and Counseling. Retrieved from http://www.alfredadler.edu/sites/default/files/Hadiyah%20Muhammad%20MP%202012.pdf

Springer PR, Abbott DA, Reisbig AMJ. (2009). Therapy with Muslim Couples and Families: Basic Guidelines for Effective Practice. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=cyfsfacpub