Counseling

The American Muslim community contends with the same mental health struggles as all other sections of society. However, we face unique challenges in addressing them due to stigma rooted in cultural and religious beliefs, racism, and a lack of familiarity with available services. Perhaps the biggest barrier to care is the lack of mental health care professionals who possess adequate knowledge of Islam or Muslims. This is further complicated by the fact that while Muslims share a faith, the American Muslim community has vast cultural diversity and few providers are well versed in the intersection of religion and culture. 

In recognition of these complex community needs, ICCC is working to establish and implement a mental health and wellness initiative that will seek to educate the local Muslim community about issues of mental health. Through these efforts, we hope to destigmatize mental illness, addiction, and trauma. In addition, we seek to create a service line of referrals, direct support services, and professional training for mental health care professionals. The goal is to create an inclusive and candid conversation around mental health that helps our community so that we can lower barriers to care-seeking behaviors and provide much needed community dialogue.

• A static list of Mental Wellness resources can be found by clicking here.
• A list of past events and their accompanying slides/assets can be found by clicking here.
• A list of Muslim Mental Health Providers can be found by clicking here.

• Raise awareness and reduce stigma related to mental illness, addiction, and trauma through education and community dialogue
• Encourage and provide support around help seeking behaviors by maintaining a referral database of culturally competent mental health care providers.
• Provide training and education for mental health providers in order to increase the availability of Islamically informed and religiously and culturally competent care for the local Muslim community.
• Foster a culture of inclusivity, compassion, understanding and support in order to create a safe space for the ICCC community to discuss, learn about and share mental health challenges

ICCC is looking forward to implementing this initiative in the coming months. The gradual rollout of these services will involve:

• Hands on workshops to preemptively educate our community on obstacles and circumstances that can lead to poor mental health and deterioration of relationships.
• Generation of a comprehensive list of service providers that can be leveraged by our community for their benefit.
• Training programs geared towards mentorship and mutual assistance to strengthen the median mental and emotional faculties of the community.
• Limited onsite services for counseling within Islamic constraints and contexts.
• Professional training workshops designed to increase the coverage of mental health professionals and better equip them to meet the needs of the local Muslim community.