New systematic review explores culturally adapted CBT for Arabic-speaking populations
Cultural adaptations can make common mental health treatments available to more people.
Cognitive behavioural therapy (or CBT) was developed in and for a Western context. Adaptations to cultural values, beliefs and practices make this common mental health treatment relevant for more people.
Sylvia Martin is associate professor of medical psychology.
A recent systematic review examines how CBT has been culturally adapted for Arabic-speaking populations, including North African groups with origins in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. These are also big immigrant groups across Europe.
“Psychotherapy is highly personal. If we cannot relate to it, it will not be useful to us. Cultural adaptation can help bridge gaps by incorporating cultural beliefs and practices that are missing from the original protocols,” says Sylvia Martin, associate professor of medical psychology at Uppsala University’s Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics.
According to Rania Driouach, PhD student at Université de Paris Nanterre, language is by far the most common adaptation. Much fewer studies describe deeper adaptations, such as changing therapeutic goals, adapting case examples, or integrating culturally specific ways of understanding psychological distress. This raises the question of what ‘cultural adaptation’ means in practice.
The review also reinforces the need to move beyond treating Arabic-speaking populations as one homogeneous group. North African populations share some cultural references with other Arab communities, but they also have distinct migration experiences and sociocultural contexts that deserve to be studied separately.
“Recognising that Arabic-speaking populations are diverse is a first step towards making CBT, often a first-line mental health treatment, effective for more people,” says Rania Driouach.
The review argues for better reporting of cultural adaptation processes and for future studies that are specifically designed with North African populations in mind, both in Europe and in North Africa.
By Anna Holm Bodin
Driouach, R., Badea, C. & Martin, S. A systematic review culturally adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CaCBT) for Arabic-speaking populations including North African subgroups. BMC Psychol 14, 1215 (2026). DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05125-w