Development of Culturally Informed Trauma Therapy Approach for Muslim Refugee Families

Abstract

Refugees from predominantly Muslim countries have been exposed to severe traumatic experiences in their country of origin. Further their stress continues during the resettlement process in the host country. Although the number of Muslim refugees is increasing in the U.S. and Europe, the existing literature is not adequate to derive a conclusion on treatment efficacy for specifically traumatized Muslim refugee families. An inadequate treatment approach for this population may result in negative/ineffective therapy outcomes. Thus, the aim of this study is to develop a culturally responsive treatment model. For this purpose, this study offers an integrated family-based therapy approach, which is influenced by narrative, art, and narrative exposure approaches for refugee families. This integrated family therapy model consists of 12 weekly sessions and includes 4 phases: a) diagnostic interview, b) narration of the life story, c) exposure to the trauma, and d) re-narrate and reprocessing of the traumatic events. Future studies should test the feasibility and effectiveness of the integrated model using the randomized controlled trials, as the acquisition of such treatment models is essential to the development of a culturally sensitive treatment model for Muslim refugees.