Preferred therapist characteristics of Muslim college women in the United Arab Emirates: implications for psychotherapy

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Mental Health, Religion and Culture

Publication Date

1-1-2020

Abstract

© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Therapeutic alliance and psychotherapeutic outcomes can be influenced by therapist characteristics. While research has explored preferred therapist characteristics in Western secular contexts, few studies have examined this question among Muslim populations in the Arab world. This study explores Arab, Muslim women's expressed preferences concerning therapist characteristics. Two hundred and twenty college women attending a tertiary educational institution in the United Arab Emirates were presented with a list of twenty-two therapist characteristics derived from previous research and included attributes such as empathy, compassion and honesty. Participants performed a discrete choice task, expressing a preference for either male or female therapists, and for therapists of the same (Emirati) or different nationality. The most frequently endorsed characteristic among the present population was confidentiality. Implications are discussed with reference to psychotherapy practice with Muslim clients in the UAE and the need for an empirical approach to the identification of preferred therapist characteristics.

ISSN

1367-4676

Publisher

Informa UK Limited

Volume

23

Issue

9

First Page

745

Last Page

755

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Keywords

Muslims, Therapeutic alliance, therapist preferences

Scopus ID

85095828512

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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