The racism you know is not the racism we experience

A perspective on Islamophobia and racism concerning the therapeutic frame: What Muslims bring and what they leave behind

Abstract

This article articulates some of the complexities of the interrelationship of Islamophobia and racism that are present in life and therapeutic work with Muslim clients. It addresses the political context of the intersectionality these factors bring to Muslim mental health and therapeutic work with Muslims, contextualising their mental health inequalities in Western hegemony in the UK. In this, it explores the choices diverse Muslim clients make as to what they bring to the therapeutic relationship in the context of the above. It further suggests that counsellors and therapists of colour may use their awareness of intersectionality to work to develop rapport with diverse Muslim clients in this context.