Helping couples deal with cultural and religious diversity

Abstract

Knowledge of cultural and/or religious differences in partner relationships is essential to competency in couples counseling. Irrational beliefs may be manifested differently from culture to culture and religion to religion, but basic erroneous beliefs are present across cultures and religions. Cultural and religious differences may shape the form, content, and timing of interventions, but the goal of interventions is to lower the incidence of distorted beliefs and self-sabotaging behaviors across cultures and religions. For individuals in some cultures, it is important for the therapist to spend considerable time addressing activating events and changing future situations before confronting the distorted cognitions. While cognitively based therapies may have to be modified to address these differences, they are flexible enough to accommodate those changes, improve outcomes, and maintain the integrity of the therapy.