Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects
Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – Department of Family Therapy
Advisor
Douglas G. Flemons
Committee Member
Shelley K. Green
Committee Member
Kara Erolin
Abstract
Since family therapy was brought only recently to Saudi Arabia, studies exploring the field in this context are few. This dissertation will be the first to focus on the self of the Saudi Arabian family therapist (SAFT). In particular, it will be the first to pay close attention to SAFTs’ ways of dealing with the differing and, perhaps, incompatible epistemologies of Saudi culture and religion on one side, and systemic thinking and family therapy on the other. This study seeks to shed a phenomenological light on what informs SAFTs and what influences their work. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), I interviewed seven SAFTs, identifying the challenges they encounter as they undertake their practice, and clarifying how these therapists are adapting Western knowledge vis-à-vis the Saudi culture. An old saying in Arabic conveys the self-reflective challenge of examining epistemological assumptions. We say “a camel can’t look at its own hump.” This dissertation is an attempt to at least steal a glance at it.
NSUWorks Citation
Rana M. F. Banaja. 2019. Glancing Back at The Camel’s Hump: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Saudi Family Therapists’ Dual Epistemologies. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – Department of Family Therapy. (44)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dft_etd/44.