Cross-Cultural Counseling: The Arab-Palestinian Case

Description

As a therapist, you may find yourself at a brick wall when you try to treat Middle Eastern, North African, South American, Asian, and other clients with psychotherapeutic techniques formulated in the West. As Cross-Cultural Counseling: The Arab-Palestinian Case illustrates, the construction of self, community, and society is remarkably different in Arab countries. Only certain aspects of Western... Read more

As a therapist, you may find yourself at a brick wall when you try to treat Middle Eastern, North African, South American, Asian, and other clients with psychotherapeutic techniques formulated in the West. As Cross-Cultural Counseling: The Arab-Palestinian Case illustrates, the construction of self, community, and society is remarkably different in Arab countries. Only certain aspects of Western psychotherapy can be adapted to respond to the unique sociopolitical conditions and cultural factors affecting the mental health of people raised to consider community needs over self needs and desires. This text suggests a biopsychosocial approach to treating psychological disorders among Arab clients and highlights differences in the prevalence and manifestation of psychological disorders among peoples of South/Eastern backgrounds, as compared to what is known in the West. You’ll gain an education and understanding from Cross-Cultural Counseling that helps you provide more effective services to Arabs and Palestinians to meet their mental health needs.

Cross-Cultural Counseling shows you how divesting therapeutic techniques of cultural sensitivity results in the alienation of clients who are not accustomed to recognizing or meeting their individual needs. It suggests a biopsychosocial approach to treating psychological disorders among Arab clients and highlights differences in the prevalence and manifestation of psychological disorders among peoples of South/Eastern backgrounds, as compared to what is known in the West. Challenging therapists to discard their misconceptions and biases about people who don’t fit the Western mold in terms of individualization, identity, and personality, the book also covers:

different sociopolitical situations in Arab countries and the maintenance of authoritarian and collectivistic culture
psychocultural features of Arabs
socialization in Arab homes and schools
help-seeking behavior among Arabs and poor mental health service delivery in Arab countries
factors threatening the unity of the Palestinian family
therapeutic recommendations for traditional clients

According to author Marwan Dwairy, Cross-Cultural Counseling is meant to “undo the dehumanization that has surrounded Palestinian-Arabs and help clinicians to understand the behavior of the Arab client and come to know the person in him or her.” Certainly, no other book can help you, as a psychologist, psychiatrist, or mental health professional, treat Palestinians, Arabs, and other South/Eastern clients as efficiently and successfully.

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List of Tables
Author’s Note
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgment
Part I: The Arab-Palestinian Culture
Chapter 1. The Palestinian Arabs
Chapter 2. Psycho-Cultural Features of the Palestinian Arabs
Chapter 3. Socialization in Arabic Families and Schools
Part II: Mental Health in Arabic Society and Other South/Eastern Cultures
Chapter 4. Arabic Personality Development, Structure, and Dynamics
Chapter 5. Epidemiology of Psychological Disorders in the Arabic Societies
Chapter 6. Arab Cultural Attitudes Towards Mental Health
Chapter 7. Difficulties of Western Psychotherapy in a Traditional Arabic Society and Other South/Eastern Societies
Chapter 8. Applying Psychotherapy with South/Eastern Clients
Chapter 9. Biopsychosocial Model for Psychotherapy with South/Eastern Clients
Chapter 10. Selected Cases
Appendix: Conclusive Comparison of Modern Western Culture with Medieval and South/Eastern Cultures
References
Index

Author(s)

Biography

Marwan Adech Dwalry, MA, DSc, has been a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program of the Center for Psychological Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Florida since 1994. In this capacity, he has taught classes on psychological intervention in sornatoform disorders, on the diagnosis and treatment of dissociative disorders, and on cross-cultural counseling. He was the Director of the Municipal Psychological Services Center for Nazareth, Israel, from 1978 until 1994, and the Director of a private clinic specializing in psychosomatic and stress disorders from 1980 until 1994. Through sixteen years of practice, he has acquired extensive experience in psychodynamic therapy, helping parents and teachers cope with children’s behavioral and emotional problems, and in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. A former lecturer of cognitive, developmental, and social psychology at TECHNION --The Israeli Institute of Technology, Dr. Dwairy was a Chairperson on the Arab-Palestinian Mental Health Association in Israel (1991—1994) and of the North section of the Israeli Association of Behavior-Cognitive Therapy. He has spoken at three international peace conferences and delivered and published numerous papers and articles on Arab-Palestinian mental health and national identity, special education in Arab-Palestinian schools, and sexual abuse in the Arabic community.

Cross-Cultural Counseling The Arab-Palestinian Case

Description

Table of Contents

Author(s)

Biography

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