Spirituality and religion can play a significant role in the promotion of health for patients from faith communities, yet these aspects of our patients' identity are often not integrated into their care. For example, many Muslim Americans believe their mental health issues may be linked to spiritual or metaphysical causes and seek clinicians to incorporate spirituality and religion into their treatment plans. However, current literature suggests that clinicians often feel inadequate at integrating religious and spiritual nuances into patient care. This workshop aims to provide clinicians the knowledge and framework to better address the needs of their Muslim patients. To facilitate this goal, this workshop will include research-informed, key concepts in improving clinical report with Muslim patients. Participants will leave this training with improved competency, comfort, and skill in meaningfully providing whole-person care for their Muslim patients with serious mental illness.
By the end of this workshop, participants should be able to:
Presenter: Dr. Rania Awaad M.D. is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine where she is the Director of the Stanford Muslim Mental Health & Islamic Psychology Lab as well as Stanford University's Affiliate Chaplain. In the community, she serves as the Executive Director of Maristan.org, a holistic mental health nonprofit serving Muslim communities and is the Director of The Rahmah Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Muslim women and girls. In addition, she is faculty of Islamic Psychology at Cambridge Muslim College and The Islamic Seminary of America. She is also a Senior Fellow for Yaqeen Institute and the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding. Prior to studying medicine, she pursued classical Islamic studies in Damascus, Syria, and holds certifications (ijaza) in Qur’an, Islamic Law, and other branches of the Islamic Sciences. Follow her @Dr.RaniaAwaad