Cultural Opportunities in Psychotherapy: An Analogue Study of Therapist Perspectives on Religion in Muslim Clients

Abstract

Although considerable efforts have been made to promote multicultural competencies for mental health clinicians, religion/spirituality is still considered a “neglected dimension” of multicultural diversity within the field of counseling (Hage et al., 2006). This may adversely impact religious minorities who express reluctance seeking mental health treatment, underutilize services, and terminate prematurely from therapy. Data was collected from 210 therapists and therapists in training who were randomly assigned to view analogue videoclips in which a therapist either explores religious/spiritual themes or misses cultural opportunities to discuss religion/spirituality in a simulated session with a Muslim client. Results illustrated that when the therapist successfully noticed and responded to cultural opportunities related to the client’s religious/spiritual identity, the therapist was perceived to be more culturally humble and more culturally comfortable. The therapist and client were also perceived to have a stronger working alliance, and the quality of the session was evaluated more favorably by the participant-observers. Recommendations for clinical practice, training, and future research are also discussed.