Vulnerable Selves: Conversations in Islamic Counselling
Stephen Abdullah Maynard has been a counsellor for almost 40 years, working in mental health, drugs counselling, HIV and private practice. In 1990 with Sabnum Dharamsi and the support of The Inner-City Centre and The Lincoln Clinic he set up the Certificate in Counselling in the context of Racism, one of the first transcultural counselling certificate programmes in the UK. Together with Sabnum Dharamsi in 1996 he developed the therapeutic model Islamic counselling. In 2008 he wrote the Department of Health Muslim Mental Health Scoping Report and in 2010 founded The Lateef Project an Islamic counselling service working in Birmingham and London. He has written on Islamic Counselling and Muslim Mental Health including on the evidence of its efficacy.
Sabnum Dharamsi founded the first contemporary model of Islamic Counselling with Abdullah Maynard in 1996, further developing curriculum and assessment processes for their professional qualifications. Previous work includes convening the Islamic Counselling module for Cambridge Muslim College, designing the curriculum for teaching Imams and alimiyyas for over 10 years, and establishing the pioneering course “Counselling in the Context of Racism” with Abdullah Maynard. She also developed an assessment protocol for many regional further education areas on diversity, an early attempt towards decolonial curricula in the UK, and was Head Facilitator for the Academy of Self Knowledge (ASK), an international spiritual programme based on tassawuf. In addition to being a counsellor and clinical supervisor of many years, Sabnum established a popular social media group on Islamic Counselling and is author of several articles.
Wahbie Long, Ph.D. is Professor in the Department of Psychology and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town. He has held fellowships at Harvard and Durham and is a past recipient of the Early Career Achievement Award from the Society for the History of Psychology. Widely published on the history, theory, and indigenization of psychology, his most recent book is Nation on the Couch: Inside South Africa’s Mind (MF Books, 2021), which draws on psychoanalytic theory to understand social problems in South Africa.
Muna Bilgrami Ph.D. recently completed her doctorate in the study of contemporary Sufism. Having worked as an editor of books on Islam and Sufism for over 30 years, and as an author and co-author, she has also been involved in education and radio-broadcasting. The subject of spiritual and religious authority lies at the centre of her research, in particular the teachings of self-mastery as filtered through the Islamic tradition. She is currently a Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg, in the Department of Religion.
