Behavioral Health and Muslim Clients: Considerations for Achieving Positive Outcomes

Abstract

US born Muslims and Muslim immigrants face behavioral health challenges that are both similar and yet different. What is sometimes common between them are experiences of prejudice and discrimination. These social forces interact with mental health stigma to negatively influence the mental health of Muslims (Ciftci et al., Journal of Muslim Mental Health 7:17–32, 2013; Phillips & Lauterbach, Journal of Muslim Mental Health 11:39–56, 2017). While it is the case that research on effective interventions that are specific to Muslim populations is currently needed (Anderson et al., Journal of Affective Disorders 176:183–196, 2015; Walpole et al., Journal of Affective Disorders 145:11–20, 2013), other scholarship has elucidated some general principles that are likely to be useful when providing services to Muslim clients. Practitioners who orient themselves to basic features of Islam, adopt an open and curious stance with respect to how individual clients incorporate Islam in their life, and who are mindful of the nuances that inform intergroup contact between Muslims and non-Muslims, are likely to find outcomes with those clients enhanced. The goal of this chapter is to orient the reader to important information about Muslims living in the USA, provide a nuanced take on issues related to cross-cultural interactions that relate to mental health issues, and suggest general guidelines for clinical service provision. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)