Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy: Uniting Faith and Professional Practice

by Carrie York Al-Karam (Editor)

Integrating the Islamic faith with modern psychotherapy is at the forefront of the spiritually integrated psychotherapy movement. To bring this work to wider attention and to promote its continuation, Dr. Carrie York Al-Karam has brought together the present volume of nine essays, each of which is written by a Muslim clinician who practices Islamically integrated psychotherapy (IIP)—a modern approach that unites the teachings, principles, and interventions of the faith with Western therapeutic approaches.

As delineated in the Introduction, IIP has emerged from a variety of domains including the psychology of religion and spirituality, multicultural psychology and counseling, transpersonal psychology, Muslim Mental Health, and Islamic Psychology. The individual chapters then describe a variety of ways IIP is practiced by Muslim clinicians in their service provision with Muslim clients.

The contributors discuss a wide range of topics, such as how Islam can be viewed as a system for psychological wellbeing, or a “science of the soul”; what marital counseling can look like from an Islamically-integrated perspective; Prophet Mohammed as a psycho-spiritual exemplar in a new approach called The HEART Method; the use of Quranic stories in family therapy; as well as using Islamic teachings when working with Muslim children and adolescents.

A description of the various approaches is supplemented with discussions of their theoretical underpinnings as well as research-based recommendations for advancing clinical application. What emerges is a vital resource for Muslim and non-Muslim clinicians alike as well as the lay Muslim reader wanting to know more about how the Islamic faith and psychotherapy are engaging with each other in a modern clinical context.

About the Author
Carrie York Al-Karam, PhD is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Departments of Religious Studies and International Studies at the University of Iowa. She conducts research, publishes, and teaches on Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Islamic Psychology and Muslim Mental Health, and Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy. Dr. Al-Karam is also the Director of Al-Karam Lab for Islamic Psychology. Coming from a multi-disciplinary academic background, she has a PhD in Psychology, an MA in Middle East Studies, and a BA in International Studies. Originally from upstate NY, she lived abroad for nearly 17 years in places such as the United Arab Emirates (10 years), Lebanon, France, Russia, Latvia, Turkey, and Singapore. Her most recent co-edited book is Mental Health and Psychological Practice in the United Arab Emirates (2015).



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