The South Asian Couple Therapy Project (also referred to as South Asian Couple Counseling and South Asian Families) is a program at York University that provides culturally appropriate couple therapy to couple of South Asian background, although people of other ehtnic minority backgrounds have also been referred to our program. The program was initiated as part of Dr. Saunia Ahmad's PhD research on examining the effectiveness of couple therapy across various South Asian groups. This project is directed by Dr. David Reid, a clinical psychologist and professor at York University, Toronto, Canada and Dr. Saunia Ahmad, a clinical psychologist (supervised practice).
We have couples that represented a broad range of South Asian backgrounds come in for marriage counseling that include Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, and other groups that fall under the South Asian diaspora (e.g. those from Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, whose ancestry can be traced to the Indian subcontinent). This included people that identified themselves as Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Buddhists. Most recently, we have worked with couples of Middle Eastern background, and we
welcome people who identify with various minority groups Age and length of relationship widely ranged, and included couples in a serious relationship and/or about to get married and looking for pre-marital counseling to couples who are over 20 years married. Presenting issues were quite diverse and ranged from mild to severe and included conflict and disagreements around finances, sex, children, household duties, cheating, in-laws, as well as instances of psychological and physical violence by one or both partners.
The results of the first study is in the proces of being published in a peer-reviewed journal. Results indicate that the couple therapy provided was highly effective, and that couples, by their own self-report, demonstrated signficant improvement in the quality of their relationship. The work was completed by the therapists with a lot of dedication and intrinsic desire to help couples.
The knowledge acquired through the South Asian Couple Therapy project benefited by ability to grasp the complexity of
individual and cultural issues in distressed relationships,and identify how to help partners overcome these challenges. One unique finding that emerged from this research was how to help couples resolve conflict in their relationship that were related to their extended family (i.e. in-laws).
We have couples that represented a broad range of South Asian backgrounds come in for marriage counseling that include Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, and other groups that fall under the South Asian diaspora (e.g. those from Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, whose ancestry can be traced to the Indian subcontinent). This included people that identified themselves as Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Buddhists. Most recently, we have worked with couples of Middle Eastern background, and we
welcome people who identify with various minority groups Age and length of relationship widely ranged, and included couples in a serious relationship and/or about to get married and looking for pre-marital counseling to couples who are over 20 years married. Presenting issues were quite diverse and ranged from mild to severe and included conflict and disagreements around finances, sex, children, household duties, cheating, in-laws, as well as instances of psychological and physical violence by one or both partners.
The results of the first study is in the proces of being published in a peer-reviewed journal. Results indicate that the couple therapy provided was highly effective, and that couples, by their own self-report, demonstrated signficant improvement in the quality of their relationship. The work was completed by the therapists with a lot of dedication and intrinsic desire to help couples.
The knowledge acquired through the South Asian Couple Therapy project benefited by ability to grasp the complexity of
individual and cultural issues in distressed relationships,and identify how to help partners overcome these challenges. One unique finding that emerged from this research was how to help couples resolve conflict in their relationship that were related to their extended family (i.e. in-laws).
Our Approach...
A carefully developed new model of Couple Therapy has been developed to be able to accommodate to a wide
range of complexity that characterizes modern marriage and the socio-economic environment in which these marriages exist. The model was designed to be calibrated to suit the unique features of the couple, to build upon the couple’s own tacit knowledge and dynamics. One large factor contributing to the marital dynamics is the culture that each member was not only raised in but
prefers to adhere to. Of particular interest is providing therapeutic assistance to Canadian couples that identify with the values and dynamics of the South Asian cultures(s). The model of Couple Therapy, referred to above, has been successfully adapted and
developed to be effective in assisting South Asian Canadian couples gain increasing marital satisfaction and achieve their goals and ideals. This service and accompanying development of its application to South Asian couples continues
so that couples and their families benefit. A result has been South Asian couples being referred by previous couples and reputation.
A carefully developed new model of Couple Therapy has been developed to be able to accommodate to a wide
range of complexity that characterizes modern marriage and the socio-economic environment in which these marriages exist. The model was designed to be calibrated to suit the unique features of the couple, to build upon the couple’s own tacit knowledge and dynamics. One large factor contributing to the marital dynamics is the culture that each member was not only raised in but
prefers to adhere to. Of particular interest is providing therapeutic assistance to Canadian couples that identify with the values and dynamics of the South Asian cultures(s). The model of Couple Therapy, referred to above, has been successfully adapted and
developed to be effective in assisting South Asian Canadian couples gain increasing marital satisfaction and achieve their goals and ideals. This service and accompanying development of its application to South Asian couples continues
so that couples and their families benefit. A result has been South Asian couples being referred by previous couples and reputation.
