ABSTRACT
In Israel, increasing numbers of Arab citizens are voluntarily seeking counselling from Jewish therapists. This is intriguing, in light of the social-cultural and political reality which is affected by struggles, tensions and differences.
Intercultural therapy involves the encounter between two individuals, but at the same time consists of a universal encounter between different traditions, beliefs, cultures and perceptions (Dwairy & Van Sickle, 1996). This raises the issue of the ways in which trust can be established and gaps can be bridged. Art, as the language of images, may assist and function as a bridge between individuals’ expressions and forms, thus enabling the creation of an imaginary transitional space (Winnicott, 1996).
This article discusses issues arising from the intercultural encounter between a secular Jewish art therapist and religious Muslim Arab patients. My encounter with Arab patients extends beyond such stereotypical polar opposites as traditional vs. liberal, rural vs. city or the Israeli majority vs. the Arab minority in Israel in the 2000s. In some spaces, each member of the dyad comes with a different assigned or presumed socio-political discourse, such that the encounter could lead to potential role collisions (Benjamin, 2006). On the other hand, encounters can lead to the creation of a “third space” of infinite possibilities for dialogue and growth. Specifically, I examine the tensions arising from the encounter between conservative norms and more liberal norms, social-political aspects of the therapeutic encounter between Jews and Arabs, the perception of the woman-mother role and her status and the perception of the home. All the clinical examples have been modified to protect the patients’ privacy.
This article is an expansion of a workshop on Intercultural and therapeutic encounters – a meeting between the inner home and the environment, presented at the 15th ECArTE Conference in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, 2019.
