In Partnership with Khalil Center, International Association for Islamic Psychology (IAIP) & International Students of Islamic Psychology (ISIP)
Call for Submissions/Papers!
The College of Islamic Studies (CIS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) with its partners are pleased to invite scholars, academics, and researchers to submit their research papers to a seminar on “Advancing the Clinical Practice of Islamic Psychology Through Education and Research” in Doha, Qatar, during the period of February 7–8, 2024.
This seminar aims to explore the current growing interest and efforts advancing the field of Islamic Psychology (IP) through educational initiatives, research projects, and clinical models. The aim is to explore such efforts pertaining to the broader field of Islamic psychology and its related subfields and applications.
Background
Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of interest and a growing number of publications on topics related to the clinical practice of Islamic psychology. Alongside the growth in the literature, this time period has also witnessed the increased establishment of organizations, clinics, conferences, symposiums, and courses within this nascent field. Such an interest for Islamically oriented mental health services continues to grow alongside the interest in the new generation of Muslim practitioners to be trained in Islamically integrated methods of psychotherapy.
Muslims have become dissatisfied with merely importing Western ideas and models to their countries and communities and are in search of truly Islamically rooted answers to the mental health needs of the Muslim community. Furthermore, the broader field of psychology is also looking to add diverse voices and perspectives to the discourse as evidenced by the American Psychological Association’s featuring of Islamic psychology in their conferences and publications over the past few years. Thus, to meet this current demand, Muslim scholars in the field have been actively publishing and have also formed some training programs to help equip Muslim practitioners with the skills to serve the Muslim population.
The field is witnessing several IP training programs coming together, courses added to existing universities worldwide, and recent diplomas in Islamic psychology being established, and now the first international graduate master’s degree program in Counseling Psychology to be offered at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) housed within the College of Islamic Studies in 2024. In order to help inform these current and future programs of training and education in Islamic Psychology, the theme of this symposium is focused on Education, Training, and Research in Clinical Islamic Psychology. Topics discussed in this symposium will help inform the development of Islamic Psychology education and hopefully enrich programs in the field by bringing together leading scholars in the industry to discuss approaches to training and education.
Questions to be Considered
Given the potential overlapping scope of this topic with other domains of Islamic Psychology, the specific questions this seminar aims to explore are:
Conceptualization: How to conceptualize the field of Applied Islamic Psychology and its applications in relation to mainstream psychology? How can the field be demarcated conceptually for practical purposes in research and education?
Definitions: What operational definitions can be proposed for the broader field of Islamic Psychology and its subfields?
Surveying Current Programs: What Islamic Psychology educational initiatives and programming have been developed over the last two decades? What are the core missions, learning objectives, curricula, and main outcomes of such programs?
Professional Recognition: Should the field of Applied Islamic Psychology (e.g., clinical and counseling psychology) seek recognition as a specialty or subspecialty by international professional bodies such as the American Psychological Association (e.g., www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize)? If so, how?
Barriers and Opportunities: What role do international psychological professional bodies and professional codes play in facilitating or hindering the development and application of the fields of Islamic Counseling and Clinical Psychology, if any?
Program Development: What are the essential ingredients and proposed curriculum designs for both theoretical and applied Islamic Psychology educational programs for undergraduate and graduate studies?
Career Prospects: What are the career prospects, market demands and/or challenges for graduates of Islamic Counseling and Clinical Psychology programs?
Epistemology and Research Methodology: How can an Islamic epistemology inform and appraise current research methods and designs utilized in psychology?
For example, can the grading of knowledge and data as qaṭ‘ī (certain) vs. ẓannī (probabilistic) be utilized to appraise and qualify the subjective self-report data most commonly used in both quantitative and qualitative data?
How can Islamic Psychology scholars integrate empirical, rational, and revelatory sources of knowledge to inform their research and education?
Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas: What are the core principles of a code of ethics for practitioners of Islamic Psychology? What are the divergences with and convergence from mainstream professional codes of ethics?
How can the future generation of IP scholars and practitioners be trained to practice in an ethical and professional manner informed by Islamic faith in the broader international professional atmosphere replete with ethical dilemmas for practitioners of Islamic Psychology?
Scope of Practice: How can the scope of Islamic Psychology practitioners be delineated in relation to other similar roles in the Islamic tradition such as murshid, murabbi, faqīh, Islamic studies scholar, raqī, Shaykh, etc.?
How to navigate these inter-disciplinary boundaries in training and education?
How can Islamic Psychology practitioners leverage these other disciplines in offering services to clients?
Institutions: What are the appropriate homes for Islamic Psychology programs? What are the barriers and opportunities of housing Islamic Psychology programs in colleges of Islamic Studies, Psychology, Education, Social Sciences, or Humanities or seminaries?
Clinical Supervision: What are the core competencies required of supervisors of Islamic Psychology? What philosophies inform the supervisor-supervisee relationship and its goals?
Character & Professional Development: What role does the literature on character development play in Islamic Psychology training?
How can Islamic Psychology programs place an emphasis on not only the knowledge and skill acquisition of students but also their character and spiritual development?
Program Description
Scholars whose submissions will be accepted will be given an opportunity to provide an oral presentation of their work followed by a discussion. Some distinguished scholars will also be requested to participate in closed workshops and focus group discussions exploring curriculum design and syllabus development for graduate degree programs in Islamic psychology.
Description and Methodology of Research Papers
A paper may be dedicated to one or more of the above topics/questions. Papers may be theoretical, empirical, or applied in nature. Papers may survey and evaluate existing programs, resources, and curricula. Reports and technical documents such as a proposed code of ethics, for example, are acceptable. Scholars and researchers are welcome to address the broader field of Islamic psychology with an emphasis on applied psychology
(i.e., counseling/clinical psychology). Papers with practical applications will be given preference.
Selection Criteria
The suggested questions outlined above are not a comprehensive list of topics. Thus, researchers can always address other questions as long as the submitted paper falls within the scope of the symposium and keeps the main aim in mind: advancing the clinical applications of Islamic Psychology through education and research.
All submitted abstracts and full papers will be evaluated by an academic review committee whose members will collectively decide which submissions are accepted/rejected.
Practical Information & Deadlines
Prospective applicants are kindly requested to send:
An abstract (300–500 words), describing the research’s core ideas, main and sub-questions, and how they will be addressed in the light of this Call for Papers.
A brief biography (max. 500 words) outlining the applicant’s academic background, main research interests, and key publications.
Authors whose abstracts are accepted will receive an invitation to send their full papers (between 5,000 and 7,000 words) within the deadline specified below.
Languages
Submissions (abstracts, bios, and full papers) can be written in either English or Arabic.
Plan of Publication
After the seminar, the full proceedings will undergo a review process by an academic review committee. The papers which will successfully go through this process will be published as an edited volume or a special themed journal issue by a reputable publisher (to be determined).
Benefits
HBKU-CIS will offer the authors of accepted papers the following:
A refereed publication
The cost of making the publication available via open access
Travel and accommodation costs for the three days of the seminar
Simultaneous Arabic-English translation throughout the seminar.