Mindfulness-based stress reduction among Emirati Muslim women

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Mental Health, Religion and Culture

Publication Date

3-15-2016

Abstract

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Explorations of mindfulness-based psychotherapeutic approaches are relatively scarce outside of Europe and North America. This study examined the effectiveness and the religio-cultural appropriateness/acceptability of a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme among Muslim citizens of the United Arab Emirates. Emirati college women (N = 12) were enrolled in an eight-week, group-based, MBSR programme. After completing the programme, participants attended a focus group exploring their perceptions of MBSR, with a particular emphasis on exploring the cultural appropriateness of this approach. The MBSR programme was favourably evaluated, and not in any way deemed antithetical towards the participants' own theistic or cultural traditions. The results are discussed with reference to identifying bridging concepts to help better contextualise MBSR for people who spontaneously couch their experiences in religious themes, or who explicitly express a desire for faith-affiliated interventions.

ISSN

1367-4676

Publisher

Routledge

Volume

19

Issue

3

First Page

295

Last Page

304

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Keywords

Arab, depression, MBSR, mindfulness, Muslim

Scopus ID

84978107417

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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