Understanding the Mental Health Needs of Muslims & Emerging Islamically Integrated Psychotherapies

Khalil Center Educational Series
Session 1:
Understanding the Mental Health Needs of Muslims & Emerging Islamically Integrated Psychotherapies
Thursday, October 15th, 2020
12:00PM-1:30PM
Presented by Rania Awaad, MD, Abdallah Rothman, Ph.D, and Hooman Keshacarzi, Psy.D.
Event held online via zoom. Link to access zoom will be sent 24 hours prior to event.

This program, when attended in its entirety, offers 1.5 APA CEs for Psychologists and other professionals, and 1.5 BBS California CEUs for LPCCs, LPSWs, and LMFTs

This six part educational series is presented in partnership by the Counseling Psychology Department at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, The Khalil Center and IBN Haldun University.

Please see website for more information on individual sessions and continuing education.
Live Event Registration Fees:
General Admission (single session): $20.00

General Admission (6-Session package): $90.00

TCSPP Faculty/staff/Alumni: Free

Khalil Center Staff: Free

TCSPP/IBN Haldun/Khalil Center Students: Free

Other-Student Admission (single session): $10.00

Other-Student Admission (6-Session Package): $45.00

Refund Policy:100% of tuition is refundable up to 48 hours before the program. Within 48 hours of the program, tuition is nonrefundable.

Workshop Description

This particular workshop will provide mental health professionals and students of the behavioral sciences an opportunity to better understand the Mental health needs of Muslim populations. The particular cultural and religious factors that may impact this group as a special population will be explored with an attention to the prevalence of mental health conditions, help seeking behaviors, barriers for service delivery and responsiveness to various therapeutic modalities. Given that Muslims tend to be more reluctant in seeking mental health treatment for their psychological distress relative to other groups (Sheikh & Furnham, 2000; Pilkington, Msetfi, & Watson, 2012), solutions will be provided to address the religious, spiritual, and faith based cultural sensitivities that serve as barriers for service delivery (Inayat, 2007; Aloud & Rathur, 2009).

Additionally, many religiously adherent Muslims not only need culturally sensitive psychotherapy, they are also likely to want their therapist to demonstrate spiritual competencies and provide spirituality integrated care (Weatherhead & Diaches, 2010). In light of this and the growing research and interest in spiritually integrated psychotherapies (Richards & Bergin, 2004; Pargament, 2007), emerging Islamic psychologies will be discussed in detail. There will be a brief overview of the rich historical scholarly tradition on human psychology within the Islamic tradition. Then an orientation to the broader contemporary movement of Islamic psychology with a focus on providing an overview of the various Islamic models of psychological well-being and treatment will be presented.

Learning Objectives:

After attending this introductory-level workshop, participants will be able to:

– Demonstrate a stronger understanding of Muslim culture and the Islamic faith and be able to utilize this information to provide more culturally competent psychotherapy.

– Assess the applicability of certain therapeutic interventions or modalities in their suitability for Muslim populations

– Integrate Islamic spiritual concepts into psychotherapy.

– Provide psychotherapy to Muslim patients within an Islamic context

– Describe Islamic concepts, culture and Islamic scholarly contributions to human psychology

Workshop Schedule:

12:00pm – Event Begins

1:30pm – Event Ends

References:

1. Ahmed, S. & Amer, M. (Ed). (2016). Counseling Muslims: Handbook of Mental Health Issues and Interventions. New York: Routledge.

2. York al-Karam (Ed). (2018). Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy: Uniting Faith & Professional Practice. Templeton Press: 1599475413

3. Keshavarzi, H., Khan, F., Ali, B. & Awaad, R. (Eds.) (2020). Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health Care: Introducing Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy. New York: Routledge.

4. Keshavarzi, H & Ali, B (2018). Islamic Perspectives on Psychological and Spiritual Well-being and Treatment. In H. S. Moffic,, J. Peteet, A. Hankir, R. Awaad, Islamophobia & Psychiatry: Recognition, Prevention, and Treatment. Switzerland: Springer

5. Haque, A., Khan, F., Keshavarzi, H. & Rothman, A (2016) Integrating Islamic Traditions in Modern Psychology: Research Trends in Last Ten Years. Journal of Muslim Mental Health

6. Keshavarzi, H & Haque, A. (2013). Outlining a psychotherapy model for enhancing Muslim mental health in an Islamic context. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion.

7. Haque, A. & Keshavarzi, H (2013). Integrating Indigenous Healing Methods in Therapy: Muslim Beliefs and Practices. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health.

8. Rothman, A. & Coyle, A. (2020). Conceptualizing an Islamic psychotherapy: A grounded theory study. Spirituality in Clinical Practice. American Psychological Association. Advance online publication.