Effects of Islamophobia on Muslim American Mental Health

Likely fueled by the political discourse surrounding the US 2016 presidential elections, Muslim communities throughout the US felt a noticeable spike in anti-Muslim incidents. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, reported a 57% increase in anti-Muslim incidents in 2016 compared to 2015 [12]. Anti-Muslim sentiments take different forms, e.g., stereotyping, profiling, verbal abuse, physical aggression, burning of mosques, and bomb threats [28, 32]. Those sentiments were not attributed with specific locations or settings. In fact, incidents were reported in schools, campuses, offices, mosques, and even recreational areas. Institutional Islamophobia includes aggrevated forms of surveillance, interrogation, detention, and deportation, among other violations of civil rights [5]. What makes the problem even more complex is that some Muslims experience racial discrimination in addition to the religious harassment [28] resulting in double or even triple stigma as will be further explained in the chapter.

The damaging consequences of Islamophobic incidents extend to different age groups, cultural backgrounds, and genders [12]. Due to the unpredictability of the time, place, and circumstances of Islamophobic incidents, Muslims tend to be in a continuous state of hypervigilance and insecurity. This alarmed state of mind has detrimental effects on the psychological well-being of Muslim Americans. Most of the literature documenting the adverse effects of Islamophobia on health and well-being draws from studies done on the effects of racism and discrimination on minority populations, with the exception of few studies that focused on Muslim Americans [28]. These studies have unveiled new dimensions for the Islamophobia problem as it impacts individuals, social relations, and communities at large, as we explain next. 

On an Individual Level

Discrimination and anti-Muslim sentiments contribute to the development, exaggeration, or progression of mental illness of Muslim Americans [2]. Discrimination-related stress is a known pathway for triggering multiple psychological problems including anxiety and depression [26].

Muslim youth who are easily identifiable by their appearance (e.g., wearing a hijab for girls or a kufi for boys) often are the target of bullying at schools. According to the 2016 report published by CAIR on Muslim students residing in California, there has been a decline in the safety of the school environment for Muslim youth [14]. Findings also showed that 53% of the respondents have experienced verbal or physical harassments at their schools. Thirty-seven percent of girls wearing the hijab reported being exposed to physical assaults in the form of hijab tugging, pulling, or touching.

This early exposure to harassment affects the developmental well-being of Muslim youth, which is further explored in a separate chapter in this book. In addition to increased risks of anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties, bullying has also been positively correlated to poor school adjustment and decline in educational attainment [14].

On an Interpersonal Level

Fear of stigma and stereotyping results in social marginalization that deprives Muslims of the health-promoting effects of social engagement [34]. Anticipation of harassment in the public arena negatively affects how Muslims engage with other people, making it challenging to develop a community life. Belonging to a stigmatized group can result in internalizing Islamophobic stereotypes and identity concealment [34].

On a Community Level

Islamophobic incidents that happen to Muslims in any part of the United States perpetuate a sense of insecurity and could result in trauma by proxy. In 2015, three visibly-Muslim youth were murdered in their apartment in Chapel Hill, NC, by their Islamophobic neighbor. This tragic hate crime resulted in widespread fear, anger, and anxiety in Muslim communities across the United States and the world.

Applying the Socioecological Model to Examine Factors Affecting Vulnerability and Resilience to Islamophobia and the Development of Psychosocial Problems

To protect Muslims from the adverse effects of Islamophobia, there is a need for creative prevention measures that consider the multifaceted aspects of the problem. Islamophobia should be conceptualized as a public health threat to Muslim Americans. Risk and protective factors are best captured using a socioecological model, which can serve as a framework for understanding factors that influence the development of a health problem. A socioecological model seeks to understand the influence of the interactions individuals constantly have with their naturally surrounding ecosystems on the development of health status or emergence of a health problem. The model is often depicted in the form of four nested hierarchical levels: individual, interpersonal, community/organizational, and policy/enabling environment.

In the next section, we will examine risk factors that make Muslims more prone to the negative psychosocial effects of Islamophobia and the protective factors that buffer these adverse effects, at each of the four levels of the aforementioned socioecological model.

Individual Factors

These refer to personal modifiable and non-modifiable characteristics that influence the development of a health problem. They include personal beliefs and attitudes, resilience, gender, ethnicity, religiosity, and socioeconomic and educational status. Drawing from the literature on racism, studies have shown that resilience is a protective factor against psychosocial stressors and a buffer against the effects of racism [13, 20, 38]. Resilience is the inherent ability of individuals to adapt and handle life-changing situation and stressors [6].

Gender is another important factor determining the risk of exposure to Islamophobia. Both females and males are at risk of different forms of harassment, with veiled females being more vulnerable due to their visible identity [32]. Historically, the image of veiled Muslim women has been negatively represented by the media to justify anti-Muslim sentiments. Muslim women who are veiled are the target of different forms of verbal and physical abuse, while men are more prone to being profiled in institutions and stigmatized as being terrorists, or violent.

In addition to religious discrimination, race plays a role in aggravating or buffering this effect. The interplay of race with religious affiliation puts Muslims at risk of double or sometimes triple stigma, depending on the presence of other risk factors [32].

Muslim religiosity has been reported to have protective effects against psychological distress. Several studies have found that religiosity was positively correlated with life satisfaction and optimism [1] and was linked to lower anxious and depressive symptoms [19]. The effect of religiosity on Muslims’ well-being in the context of Islamophobia is unclear, however. In the light of the previously mentioned studies, religiosity acts as a buffer to distress. On the other hand, a religiously visible identity puts Muslims at risk of Islamophobic encounters.

Immigration status plays a role in vulnerability as well. Immigrants and refugees, particularly those who experienced trauma in their country of origin, are at higher risk of psychological distress [2]. According to some studies, people who migrated from countries that are politically unstable are more likely to suffer from mental health problems than those who came from stable countries [9, 25].

Interpersonal Factors

Individuals who have previous experiences of discriminatory interactions are more likely to suffer from continuous anticipation of harassment that puts them at a higher risk of developing psychosocial problems [2]. Because family is an important asset to Muslims, a history of abuse to any family member is a risk factor to others in the family, feeding their state of hypervigilance [31].

Fear of stigma by mental health providers acts as a barrier to seeking mental health care [8, 23]. Lack of spiritually and culturally sensitive mental health services aggravates this challenge [23]. Studies show that Muslims are concerned about being misunderstood by their providers [4, 8] which make them less likely to talk to a professional. In general, Muslim and American community-grown stigmas form barriers to seeking professional help [4, 8].

Community Factors

In this context, a “community” is generally defined as a collection of groups or organizations, that have a direct or indirect influence on health problems. In the case of Muslim Americans, this typically means Muslim community centers, mosques, schools, colleges, hospitals, etc. It also includes groups, network ties, neighborhoods, and geographical locations. The influence of these entities on the well-being of Muslim Americans could be positive or negative depending on ideological and political views held by members of these organizations, their recognition of diversity, and their degree of cultural and religious sensitivity. For instance, public schools that are located in diverse neighborhoods are more likely to be “culturally friendly” and less Islamophobic compared to schools with less diverse populations.

Muslim community centers play an important role in the lives of religiously observant Muslims [24, 27]. They not only act as a place of worship, but they also provide a space for socialization, communal, and pastoral support. Some Muslim community centers provide social and mental health services. The presence of these services can provide culturally sensitive psychosocial support that can buffer the adverse effects of Islamophobia and thus be considered protective factors for those who utilize them. These services can also prevent the progression of psychological problems through appropriate screenings/referrals or even management depending on the degree of services provided [10]. Several studies have documented the role of imams in providing psychological support to Muslim Americans [2]. Inability of imams to make appropriate mental health referrals, and the lack of mental health resources within Muslim community centers, leaves Muslim Americans with unaddressed psychological problems vulnerable.

Organized anti-Muslim hate groups also exert negative effects on the well-being of Muslim Americans. According to a report released by Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in 2017, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of these organizations [37]. It is estimated that the number of hate groups tripled from 2015 to 2016 and has continued to rise to reach 114 chapters in 2017.

The widespread level of hateful rhetoric in media portals has provided an ongoing stage for Islamophobia to grow and shape public opinion [31, 32]. Negative portrayals of Muslims in TV shows and movies, whether overt or subtle, feed into serotyping and discriminatory attitudes toward Muslim Americans [32, 39].

Policy Factors

Over the last three decades, laws and policies have provided a platform for the growth and progression of Islamophobic sentiments [32]. Legislation such as the Patriot Act passed in 2001 has increased the risk of detention, unjustified arrests, and interrogations of Muslim Americans [3, 7]. The Executive Order 13769, titled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” which is known as the “Muslim ban” suspended the entry of foreign nationals from seven majority Muslim countries: Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Iran. According to a report issued by CAIR in 2017, the timing of the executive order coincided with heightened levels of hate crimes toward Muslims, estimated to be increased by 67% compared to 2016 and an immensely anxiety-laden time for Muslims worldwide [11].

A summary of the interplay of previously discussed risk and protective factors is illustrated in Fig. 31.1.

Fig. 31.1
figure 1

Socioecological model depicting factors affecting vulnerability to Islamophobia and the development of psychosocial problems

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The interplay between risk and protective factors affecting the development and progression of psychosocial stressors for American Muslims requires mental health interventions to act on multiple levels (personal, interpersonal, community, policy).

Other chapters discuss how to address Islamophobia in clinical settings by providing interventions on individual/interpersonal levels. In this chapter, we use a wider lens to address the mental health effects of Islamophobia, with attention to the community level and using community engagement as an effective approach.

Community Engagement: A Bottom-Up Approach to Address Complex Problems

Traditionally, health promotion projects were led by professionals with little or no input from the targeted communities [21, 29]. This top to bottom approach resulted in interventions that were ineffective and insensitive to the culture and needs of communities. Minority populations are more vulnerable to being negatively affected by this approach since they have long suffered from underrepresentation and misrepresentation in public health activities, research, policy, and interventions [22, 35]. This, consequently, contributes to the rise in health inequalities among minority communities.

A community engagement approach to health promotion stems from the idea that health is shaped by social and physical constructs. To improve the well-being of a community, an ecological view has to be employed to capture the culture, religion, lifestyles, behaviors, ethnicities, and other social determinants of health of that community. Thus, bringing the perspectives of community members on improving the well-being of their own community becomes a necessity.

Community engagement strategies have the potential to reduce health disparities by providing community members the opportunity to advocate for their needs and participate in designing interventions that are sensitive to their social, cultural, and political contexts [29, 30].

Studies have shown that interventions which use a community engagement approach are likely to be well-received by targeted populations, resulting in self-sustainability, better health behaviors, and perceived social support. Enlisting new resources, building trust, establishing allies, and improving health outcomes are some of the goals that community engagement projects seek to achieve [15, 36, 40].

To understand more about community engagement, let us start by explaining what we mean by that term. Community engagement is defined as “the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people” ([15], p. 9).

In light of the above definition, community members could refer to those affected by the health problem being targeted. More broadly, they could also be stakeholders such as professionals, researchers, policy makers, or expert by personal experience who are from or involved with the targeted community in any capacity.

Engagement is usually described as a continuum of community involvement. The continuum starts with “outreach” which focuses on establishing communication channels with the desired community. It is a one direction process, in which information is partially shared with the community without eliciting feedback. As we move along the continuum, the partnership and sharing of information start to become bi-directional. The role of community members grows to include sharing decision making and finally co-leading the projects. A summary of the continuum of community engagement modified from CDC [14] is illustrated in Fig. 31.2.

Fig. 31.2
figure 2

Community engagement continuum

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In the next section, we discuss Muslim mental health promotion projects conducted in California which used community engagement strategies. Community members were involved in a multitude of tasks ranging from consultation roles to designing and delivering interventions.

Case Studies

Stanford-MCA Partnership

Overview

In 2016, the Stanford Muslims and Mental Health Lab (SMMH) was awarded a pilot grant from the Stanford Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education (SPECTRUM) to enhance an emerging research partnership with the Muslim Community Association (MCA), the largest Muslim community center in the Bay Area, California. Initial goals of the grant included (1) establishing a community advisory board of Muslims to lead the partnership, (2) conducting research focus groups to explore barriers and facilitators to utilization of mental health services among religiously observant Muslim Americans in the Bay Area, and (3) identifying strategies to improve access to mental health services.

Method/model of community engagement used: The project used a community-based participatory approach. The first phase of the project focused on developing the community advisory board that represent the large and ethnically diverse Muslim population residing in the Bay Area and served by the MCA. The recruitment process started by consulting key stakeholders from the MCA community who in turn suggested names of community members who could represent diversity in gender, age, professions, ethnicities, and cultural and religious ideologies. Once the first cohort of stakeholders was recruited, they in turn suggested other community members for recruitment. The Community Advisory Board (CAB) members participated in monthly meetings through which they were engaged in the research process, discussed their leadership roles, and received training on principles of CBPR.

The second phase of the project was to conduct focus groups to explore barriers and facilitators to utilization of mental health services in the Muslim community. CAB members participated in designing the focus group case scenarios, and they led the recruitment process. They were responsible for running the focus groups under the supervision of the principal investigator, Dr. Rania Awaad, from their academic partner, Stanford University.

Outcomes

Outcomes of the CAB meetings were fivefold: Over a renewable 1-year term, CAB members (1) served on the community advisory board, (2) conducted four focus groups (for men, women, youth, and religious leaders) that explored barriers and facilitators to utilization of mental health services, and (3) based on feedback from the focus groups, determined the mental health needs of Muslims residing in the Bay Area in order to guide future mental health activities and research. (4) CAB members helped develop a database on Muslim mental health practitioners who practice in the Bay Area and (5) developed a mental health crisis response team that is culturally and religiously sensitive to the needs of the Muslim community.

The partnership was built on the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), which seeks to create an equitable relationship between researchers (academia) and community members. Based on the importance of co-learning, CBPR encourages communities’ participation in the co-construction of knowledge [41] and in shaping the research agenda.

The Stanford-MCA partnership started with the consultation phase in which community members were providing feedback for developing the focus groups and recruiting participants. Then the involvement increased when they co-led the focus groups. Now the partnership is taking this blossoming collaborative relationship to the next level in which community members are shaping future research questions, identifying mental health needs of the community, and taking a leading role in developing new projects.

Bay Area Muslim Mental Health Professionals

Serving a minority population can be a lonely journey that requires considerable sincerity and dedication. Adding to that, the lack of evidence-based practices contributes to the uncertainty and stress of the work of health professionals. In 2014, a group of Muslim mental health professionals joined forces to build upon previous grassroots efforts to organize Muslims MH providers, breaking this loneliness by meeting regularly for peer support, networking, and mentorship. The group, now known as the Bay Area Muslim Mental Health Professionals (BAMMHP) network, has grown from a handful of mental health providers to over 100 interdisciplinary MH providers and trainees. The monthly meeting of the BAMMHP has been hosted by Muslims and Mental Health Lab at the Stanford School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. The group meets to share expertise, and resources, develop culturally and spiritually sensitive trainings, establish research and professional collaborations, and mentor young professionals interested in serving the Muslim community.

A major outcome of these meetings was the formal establishment of the Bay Area Muslim Mental Health Professionals as a network of Muslim-identified mental health providers and students whose focus is to link the local Muslim community with psychological support and resources. The network includes an interdisciplinary group of licensed Muslim psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, and psychiatric nurses. The combined expertise of this group has facilitated outreach and education to the Bay Area Muslim community regarding topics on mental health and well-being, including but not limited to parenting support, depression, anxiety, youth issues, substance use, trauma, marital and premarital counseling, and personal development, among others.

Another outcome of the BAMMHP has been aiding the CAB in the development of a directory that lists mental health providers in the Bay Area who are Muslims or who have experience working with Muslims. The directory allows users to search by location, gender, religious affiliation, language spoken, type of the provider, and qualification of the provider. The directory is hosted at www.BayAreaMuslimTherapists.org which has an easy-to-read guideline that explains the differences among mental health disciplines and basic information about types of therapists. The network provides a platform for the emergence of several projects including the crisis response team (CRT) that will be discussed later. Participants from the network participate in ongoing research projects in the Bay Area including helping the Muslim Community Association and Stanford Muslims and Mental Health Lab develop and recruit for the Muslim Community Advisory Board.

Degree of Community Engagement

This is an example of an organically developed community-based project in which mental health professionals who belong to a certain community acted as a catalyst for social change and health equity. Driven by the professional needs of minority serving providers and the needs of their own community, BAMMHP created a platform for the exchange of ideas and for innovative projects to emerge and grow. Although not intentionally designed, the fashion by which ideas were exchanged and developed by the group could be best explained by the diffusion of innovation theory. According to the theory, for an innovation to come to light, ideas are first generated and communicated among members of groups through multiple channels [33]. In addition to the preplanned lectures that were presented in the monthly meetings, BAMMHP dedicated time slots for social networking and random discussion. This created a natural channel for participants to freely exchange thoughts and opinions. The interdisciplinary nature of participants played a role in enriching the discussions and bringing different perspectives to emerging projects. BAMMHP had a flexible framework that allowed some of these projects to become stand-alone entities.

Challenges and Future Directions

As with other volunteer-based projects, time availability and lack of funding are some of the challenges that face the BAMMHP network. Building a stronger infrastructure for the network is becoming an imminent need. Future directions include seeking grant funding to ensure financial stability and conducting trainings for BAMMHP leaders. The network also might be hosted at the newly opened Khalil Center Bay Area headquarters, a spiritually integrated psychotherapy center, to help the network grow and provide needed trainings and resources for sustainability.

MH Crisis Response Team

Overview

The Bay Area Muslim Mental Health Crisis Response Team initially developed informally in the aftermath of the Chapel Hill shootings. Muslim communities around the United States were shocked to the core. Individuals and families were reporting various psychological stressors ranging from anxiety, fear, anger, and depression. A group of Muslim mental health therapists and counselors lead by a psychiatrist came together and initiated a crisis response team. The team utilized the network that was being formed under the Bay Area Muslim mental health professionals to recruit volunteer therapists and launch their initiative.

The main goal of the team was to reduce the significant emotional distress that Bay Area Muslims were experiencing through providing education, empowerment, and support activities. The team focused on providing intervention on an individual level and on a community level. On an individual level, the team developed a crisis hotline which provided free counseling sessions over the phone and in-person to distressed individuals. If participants needed further assessments, counseling, or medications, they were referred to appropriate mental health services. On a community level, the MH crisis team was able to partner with Islamic organizations such as Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Ta’leef sisters support group, Muslim Students’ Associations on multiple university campuses, and mosques (including MCA, Muslim Community of the East Bay, Masjid al-Huda, Berkeley Masjid, Islamic Center of Alameda, Oakland Islamic Center). Furthermore, they partnered with legal organizations serving minority groups such as the Stanford immigration law clinic, ACLU, and the Asian Law Caucus. Through these partnerships, the MH crisis team was able to provide support groups, community events, and informational workshops.

Outcomes

The crisis response team had a formal launch in 2016 in which they developed a website and started to recruit mental health professionals to serve leadership roles in the Crisis Response Team (CRT). Now the CRT has six individuals forming the team core and serving as co-chairs, regional coordinators, a communication coordinator, and a resources coordinator. The team also includes a list of 20 professionals who pledged to volunteer running and leading activities in times of crisis.

Challenges and future directions for the crisis response team include further developing their infrastructure through strategic planning, recruitment, and professional trainings. So far, their work has been based on volunteerism, and their next steps include seeking grants funding for sustainability. Furthermore, they are expanding their partnerships to include organizations serving other targeted minority groups including the Sikh Coalition and Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) to exchange expertise and design common projects. They are also seeking partnership with well-established non-mental health organizations that serve Muslims and provide trainings in disaster response and media communications such as Islamic Relief Disaster Response Team and Islamic Networks Group. Another type of partnership in progress is connecting with local officials such as chiefs of police and mayors to educate the Muslim community about city and county resources available at time of crisis.

Reflections

The CRT team realized during their formal and informal launch that addressing mental health crises in the Muslim community has to always adopt an interdisciplinary approach that leverages community assets and addresses the social, legal, and spiritual needs of the community at time of crisis. Integrating spirituality into their individual and community interventions was one of the successful strategies utilized by the CRT. One of the spiritually sensitive approaches used was the involvement of religious leaders and scholars early in their educational and awareness initiatives. Involving legal organizations such as CAIR in the crisis discussion was crucial in educating the Muslim community about their legal rights and ways to be involved in civic engagement.

MAS-SSF

Overview

To meet the growing mental health and social needs of Muslims residing in Sacramento, a group of community members established a nonprofit organization named Muslim American Society-Social Services Foundation (MAS-SSF) in 2007 as a separate project from its parent organization, MAS-Sacramento Region. One of the main goals of MAS-SSF was to provide Muslims with spiritually, culturally, and linguistically sensitive mental health and social services. The organization started with training a group of dedicated community members in providing peer counseling. MAS-SSF chose a peer counseling model because of its client-centered approach based on a recovery model that promotes health and wellness and encourages self-directed recovery.

Outcomes

Over 10 years MAS-SSF has trained 20 peer counselors. They have provided peer counseling services to Muslims residing in California in 15 languages. During this period, services have expanded to include workshops, awareness events, lectures, and support groups. MAS-SSF now has its own youth hotline, called AMALA, which provides phone counseling to youth and refers them to appropriate services. MAS-SSF has partnered with local clinics and organizations for referrals. All the services provided are offered for free, or for a minimal fee.

Degree of community engagement

This is a unique model of community engagement in which the organization was developed and led by community members side by side with mental health professionals. MAS-SSF succeeded in keeping community members at the heart and soul of the organization which guaranteed that their interventions deeply reflect community needs. This success was achieved by continuous recruitment of community members and establishment of partnerships with key stakeholders in the community.

Reflections and Future Directions

Since the inception of MAS-SSF in 2007, the organization has earned the trust of the local Muslim community. Throughout the years, strong connections have been built with local Islamic centers, mosques, and key stakeholders. The organization has been part of the Racial and Ethnic Mental Health Disparities Coalition (REMHDCO) which is a California statewide coalition that includes state and local organizations working on reducing mental health disparities for racial and ethnic communities. Through this continuous participation, MAS-SSF has been a strong advocate for the underserved Muslim communities in California.

In 2016, the organization was awarded a grant from California Department of Public Health—the office of health equity as part of California Reducing Disparities Project. The grant will be used to build the organization’s infrastructure and hire more staff and peer counselors. The grant will also be used in refining their peer counseling model and evaluating its effectiveness through a participatory evaluation led by Stanford Muslims and Mental Health Lab.

Khalil Center

Overview

The lack of spiritual and culturally sensitive mental health services acts as a barrier that prevents Muslim Americans from seeking professional help. Responding to the growing mental health needs of the Muslim community, a grassroots organization named the Khalil Center was launched in 2010. The Khalil Center is a social and spiritual community wellness center that addresses the widespread prevalence of social, psychological, familial, relational, and spiritual issues of Muslim communities. The first site opened in Chicago, Illinois. The organization has since expanded, opening two other offices in Chicago, three in California, and one in New York over the course of 7 years. Furthermore, their tele-counseling and tele-psychiatry services reach Muslims across the nation that do not live near a Khalil Center site. Khalil Center’s staff are made up of an interdisciplinary team of licensed mental health providers of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. To address the need for linguistically sensitive care, services are offered in multiple languages including English, Spanish, German, Urdu, Hindi, Farsi, Pashto, and Arabic. To address the need for spiritually sensitive care, all of the Khalil Center therapists are Muslim and undergoing specialized didactic training to integrate psychotherapeutic techniques from Islamic spirituality into their therapy with Muslim clients.

Outcomes

To date, the Khalil Center is the largest mental health agency serving Muslims in America. The centers have collectively served nearly 2000 clients across the country. Over 1500 appointments were scheduled in 2017 in California locations. To exchange resources and build partnerships, the organization has expanded its outreach efforts to include local hospitals, mosques, police departments, and congress offices. The Khalil Center holds regular lectures and workshops in Islamic centers, schools, and university campuses to educate community members on mental health and counter stigma. Believing in the value of research in driving clinical work, the Khalil Center is partnered with the Urban Youth Trauma Lab at the University of Illinois-Chicago and the Muslims and Mental Health Lab with the Stanford Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department. Through these academic partnerships, the Khalil Center participates in conjoint research projects that aim at assessing the growing mental health needs of the Muslim community and developing spiritually and culturally sensitive psychotherapy models.

Reflections and Future Directions

As the largest and longest serving institution serving the Muslim American community, the Khalil Center’s success partially arises from its three-pronged model of direct services, community outreach, and academic research backing. The Khalil Center found that in order to build trust within the Muslim community and for their clinical services to be truly effective in addressing the mental health needs of the Muslim community, their work had to be coupled with educational initiatives and their therapeutic offerings guided by research. Future directions for the Khalil Center put them on track to open up branches in other metropolitan cities with large Muslim populations such as LA and Boston. The leadership structure of the Khalil Center includes clinical directors of each branch who are dually trained in mental health as well as in the Islamic sciences. This has given it credibility within a faith community that often looks to their spiritual leadership for guidance. Its financial model has also facilitated ease of accessibility for Muslims from all walks of life. The Khalil Center takes private insurance, offers a sliding scale based on household income, and offers a financial assistance program that draws from zakat (earmarked alms-charity funds collected by the Muslim community).

Conclusion

Islamophobia has negative impacts on the psychological well-being of Muslim Americans. Recognizing the interplay of individual, interpersonal, and community factors on the well-being of Muslim Americans is crucially important in providing culturally sensitive mental health care and establishing rapport with Muslim clients. Involvement in community interventions is one of the ways providers can utilize to counter mental health stigma and encourage Muslim Americans to seek professional mental health care. For community interventions to truly address the needs of Muslims, engagement strategies should guide all steps of interventions, taking into consideration community beliefs, resources, and social and political constructs.