Assignment 2: Counselling a Minority or Non-dominant Cultural Group in Canada

Counseling a Muslim Cultural Group in Canada Your Name MACP Program, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, Yorkville University PSYC 6273 – Cultural Diversity in Counselling Instructor: Dr. XX Submission Date: Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc177433605 \h 3Information on Socio-Cultural and Demographic Background PAGEREF _Toc177433606 \h 3Counselling Strategies PAGEREF _Toc177433607 \h 5Presenting Concerns PAGEREF _Toc177433608 \h 5Therapeutic Alliance Considerations PAGEREF _Toc177433609 \h 5Impact of Cultural Experiences PAGEREF _Toc177433610 \h 6Cultural Competence in Counselling PAGEREF _Toc177433611 \h 6Counselling Interventions PAGEREF _Toc177433612 \h 7Directions for Future Research PAGEREF _Toc177433613 \h 9Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc177433614 \h 9References PAGEREF _Toc177433615 \h 11 Counseling a Muslim Cultural Group in Canada This paper presents the counseling needs analysis of Muslim-Canadian clients from various immigrant cultural backgrounds who have different experiences in Canada. Lately, people from the Islamic community face the problem of Islamophobism, which, coupled with other social difficulties, indicates the need to apply culturally sensitive counseling (Taha, 2021). As per Emon (2023), Islamophobia acts are despicable to the people at the receiving end, and it does leave a haunting imprint on their lives for an extended period. This paper is grounded in current empirical literature to uncover best practices, missing gaps, and potential research directions to improve engagement with Muslim-Canadians. Socio-Cultural and Demographic Background The Muslim-Canadian community is still a relatively young one as it has increased from 2% of the country’s entire population in the year 2001 to nearly 5% in the year 2021, which is almost equivalent to 1.8 million persons as per the country’s population statistics (University of Toronto, 2024). This demographic change highlights the need for culturally appropriate counseling services to favor this group’s socio-cultural context and healthcare dimensions. Considering the Muslim minority in Canada, it is important to foreground the role that culture and social norms relevant to the institution of Muslim-Canadian play in shaping existing and imagined everyday realities and the mental health of participants. The following are firmly based on the Islamic principles of communality, familial unity, and spirituality, hence the community’s perspective on life issues and mental health (Alaca, 2022). Jamal et al. (2023) further assessed that Islamic culture can sometimes contradict the dominant Canadian culture. Therefore, they face ethnocentricism from the dominant culture, leading to conflicts in identity among young people and second-generation immigrants. Among Muslim Canadians, the rates of mental health disorders are significantly influenced by socio-demographic factors, including discrimination and Islamophobia. According to Hunt et al. (2020), Muslims living in Canada are reluctant users of mental health services due to fear of stigma, prejudice, and discrimination, and this usually makes their conditions worse. It not only negatively impacts their current mental state, but their future quality of life and everyday functioning is compromised through the increased prevalence of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder caused by feelings of Islamophobia, especially in the period following acts of hate or international tensions between Muslim nations. The social history of Muslims in Canada started in the 1960s after the changes in immigration laws, which discriminated against minority groups and received immigrants from countries including Pakistan, India, Iran, and later Somalia and some other African countries. Such waves of migration have given Muslim-Canadian society the colors of a mosaic picture; at the same time or similarly, they have presented a picture of different hues of complexity in the process of assimilation and social incorporation (Haq, 2021). These include characteristics like the importance of family respect, modesty, and community welfare, which are critical determinants of how these communities approach health care systems, including counseling services. For instance, the conventional models of mental health may consider counseling as a ‘Western practice’ and therefore use it only as a last option, thus the need to develop credibility among the clients and show cultural sensitivity (Litalien, Atari & Obasi, 2022). By assimilating a specific accord to these cultural and religious beliefs in their practice, the counselors will understand and appreciate this cultural diversity, enhancing the therapeutic relationship to respect cultural beliefs while enhancing the community’s general well-being. Counselling Strategies When addressing Muslim-Canadian clients, a multi-dimensional approach is needed to address the issues that concern them. Such concerns tend to stem from discrimination, identity crisis, and the compound realities of experiencing immigrant or refugee status. A hypothetical client, Sadia, a 30-year-old Muslim woman who migrated to Canada five years ago, can best illustrate these issues. Sadia undergoes anxiety and depressive signs that worsen by discrimination and acclimatization challenges; it affects the whole Muslim-Canadian community. Presenting Concerns Like many Muslim-Canadians, the stressor based on discrimination is not exquisite in the case of Sadia. It has been established that Muslim Canadians encounter some form of Islamophobia, and these may be microaggression, verbal abuse, or even physical attacks that have adverse effects on the mental health of subjects. Islamaphobic sentiments and hate crimes due to policy changes increase feelings of insecurity and marginalization, especially for women wearing Hijabs (Smith, 2020). Triadafilopoulos and Rasheed (2020) elaborated that the study that was carried out by the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) shows that such experiences result in post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and threats that never end, aspects that Sadia was also manifesting during sessions. Therapeutic Alliance Considerations Culture and religion are important aspects of counseling, and therefore, establishing a therapeutic relationship with Sadia would require consideration of these elements. This process involves another level of awareness of the power dynamics involved in therapy (Singh et al., 2020). Hence, the therapist must ensure that the environment will not subjugate Sadia’s cultural experiences by default. Trust is critical and can be established by embracing her Islamic practices by setting the meetings either in the morning or evening when she may be accessible to pray or discuss issues to do with hijab and how it makes her or if it hurts her since ...