Culturally Informed Therapy for Muslims

Amy Weisman de Mamani is a Professor at the University of Miami and a licensed clinical psychologist. She earned her doctorate at The University of Southern California and completed her clinical internship at UCLA. Her research is focused on family and cultural factors that influence the course and outcome of serious mental illness. She has published over 100 manuscripts in areas related to mental illness. In 2021, she published a treatment manual on her Culturally Informed Therapy for Schizophrenia, in the Treatments that Work Series by Oxford University Press. Her research has been funded by NIMH, The John Templeton foundation, APA, and other agencies. In 2018, she was the recipient of the Stanley Sue Award for Distinguished Contributions to Diversity in Clinical Psychology by APA’s Division 12 (Clinical Psychology). In 2021, she received the Trailblazer Award from ABCT’s Psychosis and Schizophrenia Spectrum Special Interest Group.

Merranda McLaughlin, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral psychology fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School serving both at community health centers and clients across the psychotic spectrum. Her research encompasses Muslim mental health and culturally informed therapy for SMI. Her current research projects involve the integration of spiritual-based interventions in the Boston community for individuals with SMI. Dr. McLaughlin is also a co-founder of the Muslim American Project (MAP; www.map-um.com), works with the Islamic Society of North America on their mental health initiative, and is planning the expansion of CIT-M to the state of Massachusetts. Both in her graduate school training and clinical internship, Dr. McLaughlin was recognized for her clinical excellence and commitment to culturally-informed intervention (i.e., Bertha Weber Award for Clinical Excellence and the John E Carr PhD Award for Outstanding Achievement in Empirically-Supported Psychotherapies).

Salman Shaheen Ahmad received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Miami and is a postdoctoral research fellow in implementation science at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. His interests lie at the intersection of psychology and religion/spirituality – including Islamic Psychology and Muslim mental health – and in addressing low global mental health literacy and access to evidence-based care. Salman has been developing this expertise via peer-reviewed publications, professional and community presentations, and clinical experiences in religion/spirituality and health, culturally and spiritually informed therapies, Muslim mental health, trauma, and serious mental illness. Salman co-founded the Muslim American Project (MAP; www.map-um.com), is chair of the Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) mental health initiative, and chair of the Spiritual and Religious Issues in Behavior Change Special Interest Group (SIG) at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). He has received various accolades including the Kirk R. Danhour Memorial Award for Overall Excellence at the University of Miami, and the Alkaram Institute Islamic Psychology Research Fellowship. Website: www.ssa.one