“I want to tread lightly”: how Orthodox Jewish therapists experience supporting Charedi female adolescents

Abstract

This study explored the experiences of seven Orthodox Jewish female therapists offering talking therapy outside of mainstream provision to strictly Orthodox Jewish (Charedi) female adolescents, using semi-structured interviews. An interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed several themes: The therapists navigated personal and professional overlap when working within their own community, dealt with blurred boundaries, managed the complexities of confidentiality within a close-knit community context, were informed by cultural sensitivity and by the current adolescent life stage of their clients, and experienced both feeling connected to their clients and feeling disconnected when values were at odds with each other. Study implications include the importance of co-producing research with Orthodox Jewish adolescents, continuing to increase culturally sensitive mental health promotion, education, and provision within the Charedi community, and for mainstream services to facilitate access for the Charedi community by prioritising culturally sensitive and psychologically safe therapeutic spaces, culturally informed practices and community partnership work.