ABSTRACT
Contents Migration, Survival, and Coping .................................................................. 153 History and Demography ............................................................................. 154 Counseling and Psychotherapy in the Middle East and Arabic Countries ..... 156 Major Religions and Social Meanings ........................................................... 157 Tenets of Faith and Modes of Religious Practice ........................................... 159 Generational Gaps, Cultural Trends, and Counseling Considerations ........... 160 Born and Raised in North America .............................................................. 161 Multi-Identity or Multiple Identity .............................................................. 162 The Concept of Cultural Self ........................................................................ 164 Suggested List of Proper Etiquette and “Do’s & Don’ts” Behavior ................. 166 Integration Versus Alienation ....................................................................... 169 Therapeutic Modalities and Orientations ...................................................... 170 Insights and Guidelines for Counseling and Caregiving Among the Culturally and Religiously Diverse Middle Eastern and Arab American Populations .................................................................................................. 171 References .................................................................................................... 177
People from Middle Eastern and Arabic backgrounds are migrating to every region of the world. They venture either alone or with their families. Some travel for business, training, consultation, trade, education, treatment, or exchange programs; others travel for leisure, vacation, adventure, and exploration; yet still, others travel to join their established family members, spouse-to-be, or lifelong close friends from back home. To understand their unique characteristics, backgrounds, mind-sets, emotional needs, lifestyles, values, challenges, and variety of subcultures, one would need, as a general way of introduction, to learn more about their many countries of origin and about the Near East region as a whole.
