 Abdallah Rothman was recently invited by Professor Malik Badri to speak to his students at Zaim University in Istanbul, Turkey. He was asked to speak on the topic "Why Islamize Psychology?". Abdallah explains how making psychotherapy more user friendly for Muslim clients by changing the use of terms and cultural or religious references is helpful, but that this approach may not be making the most of the resources at our disposal within the Islamic tradition. He therefore proposes a change to the topic question to "Why Psychologize Islam?". To view a video of the talk with Abdallah Rothman and Malik Badri, click here.
Adolescence to early adulthood is a natural time of self exploration and discovery that shapes who a person will become. When young people lack the right resources to support them through this developmental stage, it can create imbalances that affect their character, motivations and behavior. Research shows that meeting young people where they are and supporting them from within the lens of their worldview is the most effective way to reach them and positively impact their development.
Researchers from around the world have conducted numerous studies in the last few decades exploring the unique cultural and religious nuances of the application of clinical psychology to Muslim clients as a response to the traditional Eurocentric narratives of psychology. This paper is a review of the last 10 years of research within this domain. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify research topical trends in the literature related to the subject. The following five themes emerged: 1) Unification of western psychological models with Islamic beliefs and practices; 2) Research on historical accounts of Islamic Psychology and its rebirth in the modern era; 3) Development of theoretical models and frameworks within Islamic Psychology; 4) Development of interventions and techniques within Islamic psychology; and 5) Development of assessment tools and scales normed for use with Muslims. Recommendations are also provided to help direct future research efforts to expand underdeveloped areas in this field.  Read the full article in the Journal of Muslim Mental Health
that was co-authored by Abdallah Rothman with Amber Haque, Hooman Keshavarzi and Fahad Khan  If growth and mastery of self are your goals then you should occupy yourself with the business of discovering your faults and weaknesses of character. How else will you know what you need to work on in yourself if you are not aware of where specifically the focus of the work needs to be applied? You can’t fix something if you don’t first discover where the problems lie and what then needs to be fixed. Thus, it would not benefit you to avoid the ugly parts of yourself as these are the key signals pointing out areas where growth is needed.
 As the old saying goes, “When you fall of your horse, dust yourself off and get back on”. This is something that we must do frequently. You’ll never fully master every aspect of your life. There is always something that we are struggling to come to terms with, perfecting, or just attempting to keep in line. You may know very well what you need to do or what your goal is in achieving a certain objective or state of mind, but maintaining that objective is challenging. We have days and even just moments when we’re on and things are working out. We recognize what we need to do and we feel like we’re making strides toward our goals. Sometimes if we’re lucky we experience long stretches of this. But it is inevitable that eventually we lose our ground and we fall back to old ways, old habits or behavior patterns from the past. When this happens, don’t let it consume you and make you feel like you’ve failed. Just dust yourself off and get back on.
I wanted to post this link to an article by Yasmin Mogahed titled "Why Do People Have to Leave Each Other". It discusses the pitfalls of attaching ourselves to people and outcomes and why it is so important to have a sustainable source for filling the void inside rather than those that we so often tend to rely on. Here is the link : http://www.yasminmogahed.com/2011/11/13/why-do-people-have-to-leave-each-other/
 Welcome to the Shifaa Counseling blog. This is the first post. Please check back again to read about topics related to counseling and healthy lifestyle.
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AuthorAbdallah Rothman Archives
January 2018
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