This Being is a Guest House: Embracing Humility, Liberation & Strengths in Therapy with Sexual and Gender Diverse Muslims

ABSTRACT

The complexity of the lives of sexual and gender diverse Muslims within the United States calls for mental health providers to own our power and privilege. Embracing cultural humility in service of aligning ourselves with liberation psychology, we call for an intersectionally informed, strengths-based approach to empowering/affirming clients whose diverse religious experiences intersect with their experiences of marginalization as sexual and gender diverse (SGD) Muslims. Drawing on extant personal narratives around mental health and therapy of this population, the authors offer critical reflections, processes and opportunities for clinicians to take responsibility in honoring the diverse journeys and experiences of SGD Muslims in serving them in journeys of healing.

KEYWORDS:

• Muslims
• positive Psychology
• sexual orientation
• transgender
• therapyliberation psychology

Acknowledgments

Given the divergent language used by Muslims whose attractions defy heteronormative expectations and/or their gender differs from what they were assigned at birth (e.g., Etengoff & Rodriguez, 2021; Minwalla et al., 2005), the authors use the phrase sexual and gender diverse Muslims (SGD Muslims) to honor the agency of this population to conceptualize and honor their sexuality and/or gender on their own terms.

The authors would like to thank Neha Tamhane for her helpful comments and insights on this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.