Developing a Model of Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy

Islamic Theology and Contemporary Understandings of Psychology

Abdallah Rothman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367611521
• eBook ISBN: 9781000416213
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

At a time when there is increasing need to offer psychotherapeutic approaches that accommodate clients' religious and spiritual beliefs, and acknowledge the potential for healing and growth offered by religious frameworks, this book explores psychology from an Islamic paradigm and demonstrates how Islamic understandings of human nature, the self, and the soul can inform an Islamic psychotherapy.

Drawing on a qualitative, grounded theory analysis of interviews with Islamic scholars and clinicians, this unique volume distils complex religious concepts to reconcile Islamic theology with contemporary notions of psychology. Chapters offer nuanced explanations of relevant Islamic tradition and theological sources, consider how this relates to Western notions of psychotherapy and common misconceptions, and draw uniquely on first-hand data to develop a new theory of Islamic psychology. This, in turn, informs an innovative and empirically driven model of practice that translates Islamic understandings of human psychology into a clinical framework for Islamic psychotherapy.

An outstanding scholarly contribution to the modern and emerging discipline of Islamic psychology, this book makes a pioneering contribution to the integration of the Islamic sciences and clinical mental health practice. It will be a key resource for scholars, researchers, and practicing clinicians with an interest in Islamic psychology and Muslim mental health, as well as religion, spirituality and psychology more broadly.

1 Beyond Islamization: Re-envisioning Western Psychotherapy within an Indigenous Psychological Paradigm

Aims of the Book

This book is about the construction of a new theory for an emerging field and sets out to provide a clear framework for the further development of new clinical approaches. This is done by distilling complex religious concepts and presenting them as an Islamic model of the soul that can then provide the foundation for an Islamic psychology and the development of a model of Islamic psychotherapy. It unveils the depths of the Islamic tradition of ‘ilm an nafs (the science of the soul) in a way that is clear and understandable for a contemporary audience. Whereas this area of study has previously been shrouded in mystery and misconception due to the esoteric nature of the soul and religious doctrine, the systematic approach to the development of theory takes abstract concepts and translates them into relatable, practical frameworks for understanding what Islam says about human psychology.

The objectives of the book are to a) set the context for the field of Islamic psychology and the need for a new paradigm from an Islamic perspective, b) construct a theory of human psychology that is grounded in the knowledge of the soul from the Islamic tradition (Qur’an, Prophetic tradition, and exegesis), and c) develop a clinical approach to practical applications of that theory in psychotherapy.

There have been several publications that have attempted to provide insight into the convergence of Islam and psychology, but none have attempted to construct a legitimate theory in any systematic way. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this endeavour, it is essential to have the input of religious scholars to provide authoritative knowledge of theology with religious integrity. Other publications have been written from the sole perspective of psychologists and have largely been based in conjecture. What this book does differently is twofold: it builds a theory of psychology upon the direct input and knowledge of relevant religious scholars, and it approaches the task using an established methodology that is explicitly concerned with the construction of new empirically-grounded theory.

As the explicit aim of the research was to develop a data-grounded model of Islamic psychotherapy based upon the Islamic model of the soul, a qualitative, grounded theory approach was adopted for the collection and analysis of data. This approach enables new theoretical insights to be developed directly from a systematic interrogation of data and is particularly useful in areas where existing theory is incomplete, inappropriate, or entirely absent. An unusual feature of the book, informed by the methodology, is the inclusion of first-person reflections by the author. Each chapter is accompanied by a personal reflection from the author-researcher. These reflections provide a window into the author’s unfolding stance, experience and process as a researcher during the course of the study that sits at the heart of the book. The reflections provide an engaging change of tone and voice, breaking up the more detached narrative style adopted in the rest of the work. More importantly, in keeping with the grounded theory research tradition that informs the empirical work, and its focus on reflexivity, they remind the reader that a real, complex person undertook the research and that the research process was characterized by uncertainty, change, and breakthrough. The reflections help keep readers engaged by positioning them alongside the researcher in situ and disrupting any illusion of the researcher as a detached authority for whom empirical work was effortlessly smooth.

Unlike previous publications on this topic, this book takes an innovative approach to the application of qualitative research to bridge the gap between theory and practice. It offers a theory that is grounded in the Islamic tradition and theological resources and in systematic qualitative research, thus offering Islamic and empirical grounding and integrity. This book fulfils a great need in the field and will bridge a gap not only in the literature but in the international development of an important and growing field. Currently, there is a surge of interest and attention on mental health with Muslim populations and the question of how to incorporate Islam into clinical approaches with this population. While there are overwhelmingly large numbers of both potential service users in need and eager providers wanting to help, there is very little in the way of guidance and direction in how to approach this field. This book offers an attempt to address a problem that has existed for the 40 years of development since this field has emerged.

Overview

Presently Muslims throughout the world face significant challenges and crises that give rise to a multitude of mental health concerns. From suffering trauma amidst war-torn countries such as Syria and Palestine to managing the repercussions of Islamophobia in the West, there is an increasing need for mental health services for Muslim populations (Marie, Hannigan, & Jones, 2016). Many Muslims do not seek psychotherapeutic services due to views that psychotherapists do not engage with religious values in an informed and open way (Amri & Bemak, 2012; Killawi, Daneshpour, Elmi, Dadras & Hamid, 2014; Mayers, Leavey, Vallianatou, & Barker, 2007). It would appear that there is a need for an approach to psychotherapy that values Muslims’ religious orientations and draws from Islamic sources to inform therapeutic approaches to treatment.

Contextualizing the Topic

In looking into the conceptualization of the person from an Islamic cosmological framework, it becomes clear that many of the fundamental notions of the nature of humankind, the purpose and meaning of existence, and the developmental trajectory of a person’s psychology are distinctively different from those of the Western paradigm (Badri, 2008). Thus, rather than simply “Islamizing” psychology and modifying popularly accepted concepts from Western approaches to make more sense from an Islamic viewpoint, there would seem to be a substantial argument for the necessity of a unique paradigm that is rooted in the theology, philosophy, ethics, and guidance that exists within and is unique to Islam. Indeed, given the number of detailed accounts of psychological concepts from Muslim scholars of old (Haque, 2004), there is no need to arbitrarily adapt Islamic values and understandings to fit within a framework of psychology (the study of the psyche). Thus what is perhaps more accurately indicated in the current field of mental health as it relates to Muslim service users or those wishing to operate under the auspices of Islamic guidance is an articulated framework for understanding Islamic psychology principles from within the unique paradigm of the human condition that they present.

The history and practice of psychology in the West is certainly diverse and varied. It is unrealistic and perhaps unfair to paint that diversity of thought and approaches with one broad brush with the label “Western psychology”. At the same time there is a precedent for understanding that there is a dominant paradigm of psychology in Western academia and within the professional field, as it has developed primarily in Europe and the United States since the 19th century (Leahey, 2012). It has been recognized that there is a dominant discourse within psychology which has been termed ‘the psy-complex’ (Rose, 1998). This refers to the set of professions dealing with the psyche – psychology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, etc. – and the role these ‘psy’ professions play in regulating social structure, thought, notions of self and the powerful, medicalized, institutionalized way of understanding and practising psychology (Rose, 1998). For the purposes of this discourse, it is worth underlining that the psy-complex is avowedly secular in its nature and commitments, although the hegemonic psychological discourse has Christian heritage and underpinnings (Richards, 2009). With any dominant discourse there are always critical, counterdiscourses that seek to challenge it, usually developed by those who are positioned on the margins of the dominant discourse (Parker, 2018). However, there remains a reality to the hegemonic position of this psy-complex and its outworkings in the field of contemporary psychology. Thus, within this book, the term “Western psychology” refers to that hegemonic paradigm/discourse.

Given the fact that this discourse is dominant in the field of contemporary psychology and that this book is focused on working from within that professional field and adapting it to fit an Islamic paradigm, some terminology and concepts from the dominant paradigm will be used in speaking from within this larger professional frame. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, that language is embedded in and gives shape to contemporary thought within and outside psychology and is therefore familiar and recognizable. This is an important consideration in a book that seeks to produce knowledge that can speak clearly to groups of practitioners, even though the criticisms of that hegemonic discourse must be borne in mind. The book is not unusual in making this decision. Indeed, Craven and Coyle (2007) found that, for the same reason, the counselling psychologists whom they studied engaged in ‘dilemmatic dances’ between medical/pathologizing and critical/relational talk and practice in their work as part of health care teams. Secondly, the book does not contend that all aspects of the dominant paradigm are incompatible with an Islamic one, only parts of it. Therefore parts of that dominant discourse will be referenced where appropriate: for instance in the use of medicalized terminology such as ‘treatment’, ‘clients’, ‘diagnosis’, and diagnostic categories. Thus, the book approaches the topic of the construction of an Islamic psychology and psychotherapy from within and as an adaptation of contemporary psychology, in order to make such contemporary approaches more compatible with an Islamic ontological paradigm for use with Muslim service users.

Cultural adaptations of popular Western concepts of psychotherapy can only go so far in their effective application with Muslim service users with higher levels of religiosity (Abu-Raiya & Pargament, 2011). If therapists are working from within their Western training regarding conceptualizations of the person and of commonly accepted treatment goals, they may be undermining fundamental Islamic principles, ethics, or even laws (Abdullah, 1999; Skinner, 2010). For a person who identifies as Muslim and who wishes to hold their faith as the ultimate standard with which they use to guide their development and decision making and to determine their goals in life, it is crucial that the psychological approach used to help such people be informed by that set of values and concepts (Martinez, Smith, & Barlow, 2007; Worthington, Hook, Davis, & McDaniel, 2011). This is a matter of respecting and honouring service users’ beliefs and it is a matter of acknowledging the potential for healing and growth that exists within the religious framework. In cases where the client’s religious commitments lie at the heart of or enable the continuation of their distress (see Jaspal & Cinnirella, 2010), an approach that is grounded in a more informed and nuanced understanding of the person’s religious philosophy, law, and virtues may be able to help bridge a client’s feelings of incongruence between their religious ideals and their personal experience (Coyle & Lochner, 2011; Peteet, 2014).

Practitioners have reported that often the cause of a client’s distress in connection with Islam stems from a misinterpretation, misrepresentation, or misuse of Islamic teachings and can often be alleviated or healed by correcting the person’s misunderstanding through education based on guidance from the scholarly spiritual tradition of Islamic knowledge (Badri, 1979, 2014). The same has been discussed in the field of Christian counselling in which therapeutic interventions can involve invoking scripture to “correct” a client’s beliefs, or cognitive restructuring (Tan, 2011). In a study investigating ways in which clinical psychologists understand and address spirituality within therapy, Crossley and Salter (2005) found that therapists reframe problematic spiritual or religious material in ways that are helpful but still consistent with client beliefs. However, this requires an extensive familiarity with the client’s religious tradition in order for such interventions to be successful.

If a service user desires to live by the creed of their religion then ethical issues could be raised in the psychotherapist leading that person down a path that is not aligned with such beliefs, values, and assumptions, even when it appears to be the religion itself that is at the heart of the problem. While having an intimate understanding of a client’s religious framework can be very useful in helping to direct them towards healthy growth from within that relative tradition, as Coyle and Lochner (2011) caution, “even when the psychologist has substantial background knowledge about a client’s religious or spiritual tradition, it is still necessary to explore the client’s interpretations of that tradition” (p. 268). While this is true, many service users, unaware of the intricacies of the philosophical underpinnings of either their Islamic faith or Western psychotherapy, may inadvertently fall prey to following guidance that is antithetical to their religious teachings, albeit unknown to the therapist as well. This presents a situation that on one hand becomes an ethical dilemma for the therapist and the field of Western psychology, and on the other hand a potential problem with potential spiritual consequences for the individual and Muslim communities in general within the context of their theological paradigm.

The problem with using a Western paradigm for approaches to psychotherapy with followers of the Muslim path is that, while many of the concepts and techniques correspond with traditional Islamic approaches (Badri, 2013), the assumptions and norms that are inherent to Western psychotherapy may not all align entirely with principal values, virtues, and concepts ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Abstract
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Author’s Note
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• 1 Beyond Islamization: Re-envisioning Western Psychotherapy within an Indigenous Psychological Paradigm
• 2 Islam and Psychology: The Development of a New Field
• Reflection 1 A Journey of the Soul, a Journey to Islam
• 3 Grounded Theory and Theology: A Methodological Approach to Constructing a Religiously Inspired Theoretical Framework
• Reflection 2 A Believer and a Scholar
• 4 An Islamic Model of the Soul: Theoretical Foundations for Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy
• Reflection 3 In the Field: A Finite Pool of Clinicians and a Sea of Reluctant Scholars
• 5 The Nature and Structure of the Soul: Therapeutic Conceptualizations in Islamic Psychotherapy
• Reflection 4 The Analytic Process: A Symphony of Voices with One Conductor
• 6 Stages and Development of the Soul: The Clinical Scope of Islamic Psychotherapy
• 7 Reflections Upon a Framework for an Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy: An Agenda for Research and Practice
• Reflection 5 An Unwitting Academic in a New World of Theoretical Possibility
• Index