In recent years there has been increased attention to the importance of appropriate and relevant counseling interventions with culturally and religiously diverse populations. In accordance with the fact that Muslims rely on Qur'anic verses when answering the larger questions of life, "metaphor therapy" comes across as a technique that counselors can employ with Muslim clients. Although several authors have suggested the use of therapeutic metaphors from various religious texts in a broad manner, relatively little has been published on the application of metaphors from the Qur'an in counseling. This article explains the value of Qur'anic metaphors as therapeutic tools in counseling.

Marital satisfaction is a culturally bound construct influenced by many traditional family values and processes. Research on marital satisfaction in the United Arab Emirates is very limited perhaps due to unavailability of a culturally relevant scale. In this study, the Emirati Marital Satisfaction Scale (EMSS) was constructed and validated based on a community sample of 407 Emirati married men and women. The 30-item unidimensional EMSS was found to have high construct validity and internal consistency reliability estimates. The validity of the EMSS was supported by the positive correlations between marital satisfaction and life satisfaction and self-esteem. Men reported higher level of marital satisfaction than women. Demographic variables such as religious commitment and living location affect marital satisfaction in the Emirates. Implications for research and practice were provided.

This study surveyed 1,000 married Emirati men and women to explore a model of marital satisfaction in relation to self-esteem, satisfaction with life, gender-role attitudes and general health (physical and psychological). The Emirati Marital Satisfaction Scale (EMSS; Al-Darmaki et al., were utilized. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the EMSS indicated a moderate fit of the data to one factor structure. CFA on SSES and SWLS indicated an adequate fit of the data to the four-factor solution and one factor, respectively. The structural equation model for the EMSS showed that both general health and gender-role attitudes predict marital satisfaction and that marital satisfaction seems to predict the individual's well-being as measured by life satisfaction and self-esteem. These results are discussed within the context of the UAE culture and directions for future research are provided.

Based on previous work on factors predicting marital satisfaction in Emirati society, this study aimed at examining whether anxiety and depression as well as perceived family functioning would predict marital satisfaction among a sample of 1,041 Emirati married individuals. Participants responded to the Emirati Marital Satisfaction Scale along with an Arabic translation of the General Functioning (GF12) subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device and the Primary Care Anxiety and Depression Scale. Marital satisfaction negatively correlated with lower levels of family functioning as well as to depression and anxiety. Lower levels of depression and anxiety as well as healthy family functioning together explained about 50% of the variance in the marital satisfaction. The interaction between gender and depression and anxiety was insignificant. Findings are discussed within the United Arab Emirates cultural context.

The decades of collective victimhood and trauma that the oppressed lower caste members in the southern state of India (Kerala) suffered in silence were less known to the world until the socio-religious reform movements offered a space for their collective expression of agitation and unrest. With no socially sanctioned channels to express their injustice and pain, the folk ritual of Theyyam often became the alternative for a cathartic release of transgenerational and collective victimhood and trauma long endured by people belonging to these communities. A common theme of Theyyam discussed in literature is the symbolic meaning of 'empowerment', 'dissent' and 'protest' that Theyyam takes on as the performer embodies a chosen deity. The ritual thereby becomes a temporary outlet for the collective rage, anger and resentment endured by people of the oppressed communities over the years. These insights have implied the healing potential of Theyyam as it offers a safe outlet