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Abstract
The utilization of mental health services by Arab Americans is an evolving area of research. There are an estimated 3.5 million Americans of Arab descent currently residing in the USA. A total of 48 Arab American psychotherapy clients were studied and the method used was documentation of referral source, presenting problem, number of sessions, satisfaction with psychotherapy and stated reasons for discontinuing. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire was distributed to collect data on satisfaction with therapy. Indicators were compared with those of 48 non-Arab clients, with the objective of exploring differences in utilization of psycho-therapy between the groups. Referral source was more likely to be an outside source for the Arab American group, contrasted with self-referral for non-Arab-Americans. Reported levels of satisfaction with psychotherapy was 28.3 for the Arab American group (versus a mean of 23.8 for the other group) and they attended more sessions. Arab-Americans attended a mean of 21 sessions, compared to a mean of 14 for the other group. The two groups had similar results in the areas of presenting problem and reason for discontinuing therapy. Results can be applied in the areas of community education and outreach regarding mental health services and training psychotherapists working with this population.