The UK launch for Association of Islamic Psychology was probably the best Saturday I’ve had in a long while. My academic background is not in the field of Psychology or even Sociology, and yet I was able to engage with the concepts and ideas explored. I was able to learn the core tenants of Islamic Psychology and how it differs from traditional Western epistemology in the field. There were deeply insightful nuggets of knowledge shared from the incredible line-up of speakers. On a personal level, I was delighted to witness the presentation delivered by Talat, which drew upon the Seerah in a profound yet logical way. It has reframed my understanding of psychology and human behaviour, and I really hope I can continue learning in this area.
~ Sajidah
Saturday was the first time I had attended an event about Islamic Psychology. It was fascinating hearing Professor Skinner talk about Islamic model of the self being applied to Psychotherapy and how interventions for each level of the soul (nafs, qalb, aql and ruh) could be applied in a therapeutic manner. I was able to integrate my current knowledge on Western psychological techniques and how reframing thoughts, for example, could be used in an Islamic manner and setting. It was insightful to hear a talk on sexuality in Islam and how ethically it was approached taking into account the context of the day. Nevertheless, it was important to consider that sometimes mental health does not just include the person and their family, but also their husband or wife. Moreover, the important message I took away from the conference was to be open-minded when coming across psychotherapy and to consider the state of the client’s heart in addition to their mental states as the two go in hand to hand.
~ Sehar
Aoa,
Will there be another one running? Perhaps after COVID19?