Recognizing and Managing Performance Anxiety in First-Year Supervised Pastoral Education (SPE) Students: Description, Causes and Remedies.

Describes the nature of performance anxiety that can appear in students doing their first clinical placement in Supervised Pastoral Education1 in the Canadian Association of Spiritual Care. Explores origins of performance anxiety drawing on research, the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-5, theology of Paul Tillich and supervisory experiences of authors. Examines Canadian contextual factors like COVID-19, culture and multi-faith. Offers ways students might manage anxiety with help from supervisors and peers.

Clinical Interpretation of Jinn Possession and Cultural Formulation of Mental Illness.

This article addresses common interpretations of jinn possession among health care professionals. The author addresses the following questions: How do mental health providers interpret jinn possession? How do they view traditional healing practices, such as prophetic medicine, and folk medicine, to explain the phenomenon of jinn possession? The aim of this paper is to contribute to theoretical knowledge of existing research in this area and explore the possibility of improvement of the clinical practice with clients who claim to be possessed by jinn.

Intercultural Communication Concepts in Clinical Pastoral Education: The Intercultural Experience of Muslim Students.

This essay argues that inclusivity and multicultural-theological representation in CPE is its most valuable component. We will explore Muslim students' interaction, communication, and other processes, including conceptual analysis during their CPE training. Furthermore, gaps in the CPE curriculum will be addressed.

Muraqaba as a Mindfulness-Based Therapy in Islamic Psychotherapy.

This article first describes Sufism, the mystical/spiritual tradition of Islam then move to define Islamic psychotherapy and the various aspects of muraqaba by providing an overview of the Sufi literature. I will also highlight how the techniques used in muraqaba can be adapted and used as mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, meditation, transcendental meditation, mind-body techniques (meditation, relaxation), and body-mind techniques. Although muraqaba might not be effective for all mental health issues, I suggest a possible value of muraqaba for treating symptomatic anxiety, depression, and pain. Furthermore, Muslim clinicians must be properly trained in classical Sufi traditions before using muraqaba techniques in their clinical practice.

Medical Assistance in Dying: Challenges for Muslim Healthcare Professionals.

There appears to be a great deal of discussion among non-Muslim healthcare professionals, especially nurses and physicians, about medical assistance in dying. However, the discussion of medical assistance in dying among Muslim health caregivers including physicians, social workers, spiritual caregivers, etc. remains insufficient. A thorough analysis of the content of available resources revealed that we need more literature to analyze the attitude of Muslim health caregivers towards medical assistance in dying. This article describes the general attitude towards medical assistance in dying among non-Muslim. This will allow us to observe the challenges and dilemmas faced by Muslim healthcare professionals around medical assistance in dying.

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Other Forms of Euthanasia in Islamic Spiritual Care.

The muteness in the Qur'an about suicide due to intolerable pain and a firm opposition to suicide in the hadith literature formed a strong opinion among Muslims that neither repentance nor the suffering of the person can remove the sin of suicide or mercy 'killing' (al-qatl al-rahim), even if these acts are committed with the purpose of relieving suffering and pain. Some interpretations of the Islamic sources even give advantage to murderers as opposed to people who commit suicide because the murderers, at least, may have opportunity to repent for their sin. However, people who commit suicide are 'labeled' for losing faith in the afterlife without a chance to repent for their act. This paper claims that Islamic spiritual care can help people make decisions that may impact patients, family members, health care givers and the whole community by responding to questions such as 'What is the Islamic view on death?', 'What is the Islamic response to physician-assisted suicide and other forms of euthanasia?', 'What are the religious and moral underpinnings of these responses in Islam?'

Canadian Licensing Changes and the Anticipated Impact on Islamic Spiritual Care and Counseling Practice in Ontario.

This article highlights some significant aspects of the new regulations and the benefits of the College of Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Mental Health Therapists of Ontario (CRPO) with regard to the spiritual care and counseling practice of Muslim spiritual caregivers, including imams.

A redefinition and model of Canadian Islamic spiritual care.

The criteria for a new definition and model of what constitutes one approach to Canadian Islamic spiritual care is provided. The authors believe that to be an effective profession, Islamic spiritual care givers need to use both the Qur'an and Sunnah and adequate holistic concept from the social sciences. This involves coherent scientific knowledge based on evidence and serving diverse Muslim populations that also could include a multi-faith approach. The model based on a Canadian context is person centered, sensitive to theological and cultural environment, open to female Muslim spiritual caregivers with a concern for Muslim youth at risk.

Effectiveness of Islamic spiritual care: foundations and practices of Muslim spiritual care givers.

The paper discusses the effectiveness of Islamic spiritual and religious care based on the ethnographic research with 15 Muslim spiritual caregivers. Six themes emerged from the interviews with fifteen Muslim spiritual caregivers. These six themes describe what the spiritual care providers see as effective Muslim spiritual care: (1) The most effective Muslim spiritual care is rooted in the Qur'an and the Hadith; (2) Effective Muslim spiritual care also means creating a caring relationship with the patient; (3) Muslim scholars are one of the important sources of effective Islamic spiritual care; (4) The insights of psychology and the social sciences are a necessary part of effective Islamic spiritual care; (5) There is a need for continuing education; (6). Styles of effective Muslim spiritual care are varied.