Decolonial Mental Health Practice:
Clinical and Ethical Insights from Palestine
A four-part courseĀ with Dr. Samah Jabr
This courseĀ presents a clinical training model developed by Dr. Samah Jabr, grounded in extensive psychiatric practice in Palestine and the region, informed by decolonial thought, Liberation Psychology, trauma studies, and critical human rights frameworks.
The courseĀ critically examines the epistemological foundations of mainstream psychology and interrogates the assumption of neutrality in mental health practice. It explores how diagnostic and therapeutic paradigms may individualize distress while obscuring structural violence, and how political realities shape clinical presentations in contexts of occupation, displacement, and protracted conflict.
Rather than positioning Palestine as a case study, the workshop draws on knowledge generated through lived experience, clinical engagement, and collective survival under ongoing structural violence.
Pedagogical Approach
This is a dialogical and analytically rigorous workshop incorporating:
- Clinical vignettes drawn from Palestinian contexts
- Selected video excerpts to stimulate critical reflection
- Large-group plenary discussions
- Structured small-group analytical work
- Collective synthesis and facilitated dialogue
Participants are encouraged to engage reflexively, examine their positionality, and consider the ethical and political dimensions of their professional roles.
Intended AudienceĀ
This courseĀ is designed for:
- Mental health professionals and trainees
- Academics and post graduate students
- Humanitarian and psychosocial practitioners
- Professionals working with refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced populations
- Human rights advocates engaged in conflict-affected settings
It is particularly relevant for practitioners working in environments shaped by political violence and systemic marginalization.
