Counselling Muslim Immigrant Clients in Canada

Counselling Muslim Immigrant Clients in Canada
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Counselling Muslim Immigrant Clients in Canada
Religious beliefs remain critical to the adoption of various medical procedures globally thereby making it necessary for professionals to delve deep into cultures to address some conditions. Most people, in contemporary society, attach aspects of their health to their cultural aspects such as religion. With such attachments come variations in perceptions in terms of diagnoses, treatment, or reactions to illnesses and death. However, the demographic trends of the world are changing and cultures are growing increasingly assimilated. With such growth, people should understand the health decisions of others and offer as much help as deemed necessary. Notably, multiculturalism is still a challenge that professionals in healthcare have not adopted completely. Immigration is one of the prospects fueling multiculturalism in contemporary healthcare. Countries that welcome more immigrants consistently are indulged in the race to steer their healthcare systems into matching the needs of all their citizens. Canada is among the countries that have a high adoption rate for immigrants, some of whom are Muslims with highly diversified cultural perceptions in health aspects such as mental diseases. This paper explores the increasing cultural diversity in present-day Canada and assesses counseling Muslim immigrants in that country that keeps attracting more people from diverse cultural backgrounds. The analysis is vital in addressing mental health issues within the cultural space among Muslims in a country that traditionally cherished only western counseling practices.
Muslim Immigrants in Canada
Canada is among the countries that have maintained a liberal position in addressing immigrant issues. Muslim immigrants are those individuals who culturally believe in the teachings of Islam and are living in Canada even though they were not born in Canada or were born to parents who were born in other countries (Afaf, 2021). Both children of Muslim immigrants and immigrants showcase similar experiences while living in Canada. Their experiences, however, are different from those of second or third-generation immigrants. Muslims currently constitute 3.7% of the Canadian population, according to the latest data. That is a considerable improvement from the 2011 data indicating that Muslims constituted 3.2% of the population at the time (Afaf, 2021). The current instability in part of the Muslim world has triggered more challenges in immigration. It is projected that the Muslim population in Canada should surpass the 5% mark of the whole population. Still, there are locations in Canada with a higher population of Muslims than others. For instance, 6% of the population in Greater Montreal is Muslim while 7.7% of the Greater Toronto Area population consists of Muslims. The other regions in Canada with a higher population of Muslims include British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec (Farhad, 2019). For healthcare professionals who live in areas with higher Muslim populations, it grows imperative that they understand the cultures.
As noted, there are significant differences in terms of experiences among different generations of Muslims. Hence, it is not obvious that the challenges that Muslims are facing within Canada are universal (Islam et al., 2017). Muslim immigrants originate from multiple geographic locations to warrant their differences in experiences while within Canada. Presently, approximately 75% of Muslims who live in Canada are immigrants with less than 35% of them having been born in Canada as second or third-generation immigrants (Afaf, 2021). The Muslim immigrants in Canada originated from North Africa and the Middle East. South Asian countries such as Iran, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan represent the largest number of immigrants in North America. While the Islamic culture could be largely similar, the dissimilarities in upbringing trigger variations in the perceptions of the immigrants as they stay in Canada. It is also worth noting that Muslims are staying in almost every location in Canada. However, they are densely populated in large cities and metropolitan areas of Canada.
Psychological Issues and Needs of Muslim Immigrants
The psychological issues of Muslim immigrants stem from multiple factors that they undergo throughout their stay in different cultures. While cultural diversity among individuals is a necessary prospect of identity besides being advantageous to understanding development, it can also be a challenge in some cases (Islam et al., 2017). One problem with diversity is acculturation. When people value their cultures extensively, it becomes challenging for them to assimilate into new cultures. That is problematic in cases where people need to adapt and address the issues that they face individually. One area in which practitioners can understand the immigrant issues is their reasons to migrate to different cultures. While some seek jobs, others are fleeing from political persecution and instability. While in a new land, extended appreciation of cultural variations can steer such individuals into challenges such as racism, discrimination, and marginalization. These challenges can contribute to mental health issues among individuals. It is also worth noting that there is limited consumption of mental health services among Muslims.
Addressing the mental health needs of Muslims should require an insightful understanding of the prevalence of various concerns. Developing services to such individuals should be based on variations in key prospects including religious beliefs, traditions, cultures, and diversity in languages. One of the areas of mental health that should be addressed among Muslim immigrants is youth and adolescent-centered services (Thomas, 2015). Muslim youth and adolescents born both in Canada and outside Canada face mental health challenges that warrant insightful support. At the age of adolescence, most individuals are enhancing their social contacts within the settings in which they live. However, developing social contacts can be a challenge to such youths in places where they are marginalized and isolated socially. Muslim youth often are confused and feel unappreciated in their new social settings. Further, the pressure to conform to the mainstream values of other Canadians leaves such youth under increased mental health burdens. There is an increasing need for parents to engage the needs of their children, especially following their moves into new cultural dimensions. Hence, besides developing services that cater to the needs of youths and adolescents, other inputs should address parent and family-centered services (Thomas, 2015). Muslims come from highly collectivist families, which makes a problem facing one family member to be a problem for the entire family. While parents can lead their families to mental health stability, they must be accorded the resources and opportunity to execute such roles.
The other mental health challenge that requires addressing in the Muslim immigrant settings is domestic violence. Spousal abuse and domestic violence are some of the issues that have not been discussed/addressed extensively among the subscribers of the Islamic culture (Johnson, 2015). Among Muslims, domestic violence is rarely explored as it is extensively viewed as a form of discipline, especially when meted on women. Patterns of domestic violence among Muslim Canadians do not differ largely from those of immigrants. In either cultural setting, women struggle to live in abusive relationships. Among immigrants, the desire to stay in abusive relationships is high because they intend to keep their families intact even amidst the abuses. On other occasions, women who are abused by their spouses cannot support themselves if they leave their families (Islam et al., 2017). The increasing cases of sp...