Nafsiyat Therapy Centre: Challenges, Insights and Developments

Abstract

This article details the efforts of a small coalition of professionals of all colours who founded the psychotherapy service called Nafsiyat in the 1980s in order to counteract a particular set of psychotherapeutic assumptions: notably, that non-Europeans would not benefit from dynamic talking therapy. The article delves into the way the service endeavours to overcome a number of barriers, including scant resources, fear, stigma; at the same time, it seeks to acknowledge Nafsiyat's attempts to incorporate the enduring wealth of culturally affirming practices into its intercultural therapeutic model.