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Transference and Countertransference in Addressing Islamophobia in Clinical Practice

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Islamophobia and Psychiatry

Abstract

Ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent declaration of the global War on Terror, clinicians and researchers have reported growing concerns about Islamophobia in mental health settings. This chapter begins by defining Islamophobia and presents examples of its deleterious effects on mental health. Next, the chapter discusses common types of Islamophobic transference and countertransference reactions that can be elicited whenever a patient or clinician is perceived to be Muslim. Finally, the chapter discusses practical strategies for clinicians to address such situations constructively. Without making any excuses for Islamophobia, clinicians may find that working through such impasses with patients can lower psychological defenses that advance therapeutic work.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA

    Neil Krishan Aggarwal

Authors
  1. Neil Krishan Aggarwal
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Correspondence to Neil Krishan Aggarwal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical College of Wisconsin (Retired Tenured Professor), Milwaukee, WI, USA

    H. Steven Moffic

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    John Peteet

  3. Bedfordshire Centre for Mental Health Research in Association with Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK

    Ahmed Zakaria Hankir

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA

    Rania Awaad

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Aggarwal, N.K. (2019). Transference and Countertransference in Addressing Islamophobia in Clinical Practice. In: Moffic, H., Peteet, J., Hankir, A., Awaad, R. (eds) Islamophobia and Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00512-2_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00512-2_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00511-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00512-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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