New! 2026

Culturally Responsive Mental Health Care with Arab, Jewish, and Multiracial Clients

Developed by Julia M. DiFilippo, Ph.D., Glenn Marks, Ph.D.

Course content available in audio, transcripts, and video.

Fulfills requirement: Diversity and Multicultural Counseling

Mental health professionals increasingly work with clients whose identities, cultural backgrounds, family histories, and experiences of belonging intersect in complex ways. This continuing education course explores culturally responsive clinical practice with Arab, Jewish, and multiracial clients and highlights the distinct histories, cultural experiences, and systemic factors that may shape their mental health and the therapeutic relationship.

Participants will examine how culture, ethnicity, race, religion, family dynamics, migration, discrimination, intergenerational and historical trauma, and experiences of belonging can influence clients’ presenting concerns and their engagement with mental health services. The course also addresses the risks of stereotyping, cultural assumptions, microaggressions, and treating diverse populations as homogeneous groups.

This course equips mental health professionals to recognize the cultural and identity-related factors that can influence assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and the therapeutic relationship for Arab, Jewish, and multiracial clients. Participants will learn practical approaches for exploring identity, family and cultural context, lived experience, and sources of resilience without imposing assumptions about how clients should identify or understand themselves. The course emphasizes cultural humility, curiosity, self-reflection, and the development of stronger therapeutic relationships across differences.

Content consists of three interviews with experienced clinicians who specialize in working with their respective populations, offering firsthand clinical perspectives, practical insights, and real-world examples.

Some of the content in this course appears in other Zur Institute courses.

Educational Objectives

This course will teach the participant to:

Apply culturally responsive strategies to build trust, reduce bias, and support effective mental health care for Arab American clients
Identify effective responses and tools to address antisemitism in professional and clinical contexts
Discuss common presenting concerns of multiracial clients and practical strategies for addressing them in therapy

Syllabus

Part One: Arab Clients in Therapy: Culture, Identity, and Clinical Considerations

Understanding Arab identity and diversity
Family, culture, and intergenerational relationships
Gender roles and expectations
Religion, spirituality, and cultural context
Immigration, acculturation, and bicultural experiences
Racism, discrimination, and stereotyping
Historical and collective trauma
Mental health and help-seeking
Clinical assessment and the therapeutic relationship
Culturally responsive clinical practice

Part Two: Identifying and Working with Antisemitism in Clinical Settings

Quick facts on Jews and Judaism
Defining antisemitism
Impacts of antisemitism
- Research on general impacts of discrimination
- Antisemitism as a community and generational trauma
- Antisemitism and mental health
Implications
- Ethical implications as clinicians
- Clinical implications for clients
Being an ally
- Social justice approach to supporting Jews
- Helping Jewish clients feel safe and affirmed in therapy
- Action items

Part Three: Understanding Multiracial Identity in Mental Health

Experience of being multiracial
Cultural and racial socialization
Intersectionality and mental health
Generational and historical influences
Multiracial families and relationships
Implications for mental health professionals
Assessment and therapeutic considerations
Building a culturally responsive therapeutic relationship
Key takeaways for practitioners

CRMHJ_3N

October 8, 2026