Our Values
At Muslim Women’s Wellness, we recognize that while therapy is an important part of maintaining overall well-being, Muslim women often face unique challenges to beginning therapy, and returning to it once they start. Our aim is to break down these obstacles and provide Muslim women with a welcoming, supportive, and respectful space where they can fully engage in and benefit from the therapeutic process, without having to leave their faith behind.
Key Aspects of our intervention:
We don’t believe in a “one size fits all” approach in sessions. We meet with clients one-on-one, complete a thorough assessment and use an integrated approach to support clients. We draw from different models based on their helpfulness to the client (ie. Narrative, EFT, SFT, Solution Focused, CBT, DBT, etc). We also recognize that while talk therapy models are powerful tools in session, there are limitations to how far talk therapy can take us. For this reason, we draw from somatic (body based) techniques. This includes tuning into the body and working with the brain and nervous system. This is especially important when clients have experienced trauma, as more and more research shows that trauma is stored in the body. Models such as EMDR and IFS, as well as other somatic techniques, can help us to achieve long-lasting success in therapy.
What is trauma?
Part of being human means we will go through difficult experiences. Some of these experiences may challenge us beyond our ability to cope and leave us feeling overwhelmed. Over time, a single significant event or a series of ongoing smaller events, can have a negative impact on our mental and emotional wellbeing, leaving us feeling unsafe in the world, and making openness and vulnerability in relationships much harder. We call these experiences “traumatic”.
Why is it important to work with a trauma informed clinician:
Therapists who are trauma informed understand the impact trauma can have on a person’s sense of self, and on their relationships. They take care to use appropriate tools and intervention, to safely and effectively undo the impact of trauma, without retraumatizing the client.
The therapeutic models and interventions we use have been shown through research to be effective in reducing negative symptoms and improving the well-being of clients.
We do not operate from the stance that the therapist is the expert in session. We work collaboratively with our clients in order to develop personalized treatment plans.
We strive to approach our work with clients through a lens of humble curiosity, seeking to deeply understand their unique lives and experiences.
We acknowledge the impact of systems rooted in colonization that often make their way into the therapy session. Through the values and beliefs that we hold as clinicians, we aim to show up in a way that decolonizes our approach and interventions.
What is Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy (IIP)?
Many Muslim clients ask about integrating faith into our therapy sessions. Our supervision and training allow us to incorporate the teachings of the Islamic faith into sessions in a way that both respects and upholds the Islamic Tradition.
How does Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy differ from Western Psychotherapy?
We have found that IIP provides additional tools to our tool kit as therapists! For example, IIP is holistic. This is evident in the fact that IIP goes beyond talk therapy and looks at the well-being of the body (ie. somatic (body-based) interventions. Additionally, IIP looks beyond therapy sessions and takes into consideration connecting with God, nature, and the greater community, to promote a holistic sense of wellbeing. IIP is heart centered. Beyond discussions about the mind and body, IIP looks for ways to connect with the inner wisdom of the heart and the soul. Lastly, IIP is God Centered. God plays a significant role in sessions and both client and therapist are anchored in the belief that there is a just Lord who is ultimately in control.