Abstract

Arabs living in the United States are considered Arab Americans. Arab Americans come from a collectivistic culture with different traditions and practices, but in all, marriage is highly regarded. In Arab American culture, family is a major influence on all life-changing decisions; education, employment, and marriage. The relational interactions between Arab American couples are significantly influenced by their family of origin, culture, and religion. To date, there are no articles that provide recommendations to marriage and family therapists (MFTs) on how to best work with Arab American couples. We examine stigma within Arab American culture on mental health pertaining to individual therapy, and couples therapy; both are reviewed through a systemic lens. There is a lack of literature and research examining Arab American couples allowing clinicians to generalize how to help this population. Future directions for MFTs are provided to understand their Arab American clients along with the culture they are part of and to be trained in multicultural competencies.

摘要

居住在美国的阿拉伯人被视为阿拉伯裔美国人。阿拉伯裔美国人来自具有不同传统和习俗的集体主义文化，但总的来说，婚姻受到高度重视。在阿拉伯裔美国人文化中，家庭对所有改变生活的决定都有重大影响；教育、就业和婚姻。阿拉伯裔美国夫妇之间的关系互动在很大程度上受到他们的家庭出身、文化和宗教的影响。迄今为止，还没有文章向婚姻和家庭治疗师 (MFT) 提供有关如何最好地与阿拉伯裔美国夫妇合作的建议。我们研究了阿拉伯裔美国文化中与个人治疗和夫妻治疗有关的心理健康问题；两者都通过系统镜头进行审查。缺乏对阿拉伯裔美国夫妇进行检查的文献和研究，使临床医生无法概括如何帮助这一人群。为 MFT 提供了未来的方向，以了解他们的阿拉伯裔美国客户以及他们所属的文化，并接受多元文化能力方面的培训。