3 CE's available for Counselors,

Psychologists and Social Workers

CPPNJ 

CULTURAL  FORUM

 Presented by the

CPPNJ Culture and Diversity Committee

“The Muslim Experience in America: 

Focusing on the Therapeutic Encounter”

 Presenters:  Amelia Noor-Oshiro, MPH

and Tuba Tokgoz, PhD, FIPA

Mental health professionals in the U.S. strive to treat people from diverse backgrounds sensitively and effectively.  Continuing our conversation on the topic of diversity, this program will focus on clinical issues that arise in working with Muslim patients.

Based on clinical material, and including public health research, our two presenters, who themselves come from Muslim backgrounds, will explore the following questions: With an awareness that Muslim immigrants arrive in the US from different countries with different cultural and religious practices, and have their own unique individual histories, what do therapists treating Muslims need to keep in mind? For new immigrants who have lost their traditional way of life, how do they address their intrapsychic struggles as they try to adapt to a new culture? What is the experience of being seen as 'the other' or worse, as 'the evil' in this current climate of fear? In the therapeutic relationship, what role does each participant’s cultural history play?

Presenters will share both their professional and personal experiences with the aim of understanding the unique psychological stressors affecting the population of Muslims living in the United States today, and ways to address them in the clinical situation. Case examples will be included.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to:

1. Discuss the concept of culture as a phenomenon that saturates our subjective experience.
2. Articulate and critique the assertion that culturally informed psychotherapy is more effective in its impact on patients.
3. List and describe at least three traditional Muslim values and practices.
4. Identify and analyze at least two perspectives on the Muslim experience of being “the other” in the current cultural climate and in therapy, from both a clinician’s and a patient’s point of view.
5. Identify and explain how new immigrants who have lost their traditional way of life address their intrapsychic struggles as they try to adapt (or not) to a new culture.
6. Describe at least two current research findings on discrimination and mental health as they relate to Muslims in America.
7. List at least three sources of psychological stress that immigrants face in adapting to a new culture.

• Target Audience:  Suitable for Advanced Practice Nurses, Graduate Students, Licensed Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Social Workers.

Amelia Noor-Oshiro, MPH, is a doctoral student in public health at Johns Hopkins University. She recently conducted a nationwide study on the on the effect of Islamophobia on the mental health of Muslims in America with a particular focus on Muslim visibility as a measurable construct. Mrs. Noor-Oshiro also holds a certificate in the Social Determinants of Health and a Master of Public Health from Columbia University.

Tuba Tokgoz, PhD, FIPA, is a native of Istanbul, worked as a therapist in Turkey, and has completed psychoanalytic training at IPTAR, and clinical psychology doctoral studies at the New School of Social Research.  She received post-doctoral training in parent-infant psychotherapy from the Anni Bergman Parent-Infant Program.  Dr. Tokgoz is a faculty member at IPTAR and New York Counseling and Guidance.  She is currently the Chair of the Diversity Committee at IPTAR and is in private practice in NYC.

 For Counselors: CPPNJ has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6863. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CPPNJ is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

For Psychologists:  CPPNJ is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  CPPNJ maintains responsibility for this program and its contents.  

Level of Sophistication: This program is suitable for all post-doctoral psychologists

For Social Workers: This program is co-sponsored by the New Jersey Society for Clinical Social Work, which provides leadership and support to clinical social workers in all practice settings. The New Jersey Society for Clinical Social Work has given voice to clinical social workers dealing with the health care industry. The organization provides outstanding continuing education programs and opportunities for collegial contact. www.njscsw.org

ADA accommodations available upon request; Requests required at least 14 days prior to course start.

 For further information, please call 973-912-4432 or visit us online at www.cppnj.org