BUILDING HARMONY BETWEEN PSYCHE & LAW

Eighth annual Muslim Mental Health Conference

PEACE & JUSTICE: BUILDING HARMONY BETWEEN PSYCHE & LAW

March 17 to 20, 2016

Dearborn Inn, Dearborn, Michigan

Sponsored by: MSU College of Human Medicine, MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, MSU Department of Psychiatry, MSU Offi ce for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives, MSU Offi ce of the Associate Provost for

University Outreach and Engagement, MSU Offi ce of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, Institute of Muslim Mental Health

Thank you to our sponors

MSU College of Human Medicine

MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine

MSU Department of Psychiatry

MSU Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives

MSU Office of the Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement

MSU Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies

Institute of Muslim Mental Health

WelcomeThe eighth annual Muslim Mental Health Conference is a very special event. It’s the only conference of its kind and was established by Dr. Farha Abbasi to bring together academics and faith leaders to begin discussing the special stigma attached to mental health in the Muslim community. Since its beginnings the conference has grown and flourished, giving participants the chance to network and learn in a supportive and positive atmosphere. We’re immensely proud to welcome presenters from around the world and from nearby alike, who will discuss their work and exchange information with others.

This year we welcome members and leaders from all faiths, as we come together to look at ways we can support the members of our communities who are struggling with mental health issues. While we may worship in different ways, we all share a common love for the people we serve and support their health and welfare. By sharing our experiences and listening to one another, we can bring unlimited positive change to our congregations and our world.

We’ll also be joined at the conference by representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. We can learn what is available to support our work and can carry messages to them about what’s needed to improve the lives of people in need.

Thank you for joining us.

Muslim Mental Health Conference, 2016 Conference Agenda - Page 3

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016

8 - 9:30 a.m. Registration and check-in Continental breakfast, networking and poster presentations

9 - 9:30 a.m. Keynote address• Abdul El-Sayed, M.D., D.Phil., Execuive Director Department of Health and

Wellness Promotion, City of Detroit

9:30 - 10:30 a.m. State of Muslim Mental Health Panel • Jabril Ahmad • Najah Bazzy, Zaman International • Imam Jihad Saafi r• Zain Shamoon, M.A.

10:30 - 10:45 a.m. Break

10:45 - 11:30 a.m. Diversity and Ethics: Implications of the Hoff man Report• Nadine Kaslow, Ph.D., ABPP, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and

Behavioral Sciences, Emory University

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Decriminalization of Mental Illness • Melody Moezzi, J.D.

12:30 - 2 p.m. Lunch and prayer award presentation• Joe Linstroth, Michigan Radio• Waseem Ullah, M.D., Founder DREAM of Detroit

2 – 3 p.m. Trauma Informed Congregations • Kimberly Konkel, M.S.W., Associate Director for Health, U.S. Department

of Health and Human Services Offi ce of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

3 - 4 p.m. Mental Health Court - Michigan• Judge Thomas Boyd, 55th Judicial District Court, Ingham County,

Michigan • José Herrera, M.D., Assistant Professor, MSU Department of Psychiatry

4 - 4:15 p.m. Break

4:15 - 5:15 p.m. Stress and Resilience for Imams and Chaplains • Farha Abbasi, M.D. (moderator)• Imam Magid• Imam Mardini

5:20 p.m. Asr Prayer

AGENDA Participants are eligible to earn 16.5 CEUs from the Michigan Social Work Continuing Education Collaborative.


5:30 - 7:30 p.m. IMAMS ONLYOpiate Dependence, Withdrawal and Treatment for Imams • Farha Abbasi, M.D. • Cynthia Arfken, Ph.D.• Judge Linda Davis, 41B District Court, Macomb County

5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Dinner on your own

8 - 10 p.m. Movie American Muslims: Fact vs Fiction

FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016

8 - 9 a.m. Continental breakfast, registration, networking, poster presentations

9 – 10:15 a.m. Resilience to Violent Extremism: Engaging Behavioral Health Experts in the Discussion• Brandy Donini-Melanson, Law Enforcement Coordinator, U.S. Attorney’s

Offi ce, District of Massachusetts • United States Attorney Barbara McQuade, Eastern District of Michigan

10:15 -10:30 a.m. • Rep. Debbie Dingell, U.S. Congress, Michigan 12th District

10:30 - 10:40 a.m. Break

10:40 - 11:30 a.m. Concurrent sessions

• Munira Kassim, M.A., TLLP Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture & Refugees - ACCESS

Muslim Youth Panel• Sameera Ahmed, Ph.D., Director,

The Family & Youth Institute (FYI)• American Muslim Youth:

Working towards a brighter future

• Hanan Hashem, B.A.• A Decade of American

Muslim Youth: What does the research say?

• Saara Patel, M.S.W.• Covert Muslims: Navigating

love, sex and marriage

11:30 a.m. -

12:30 p.m.

Forensic Panel• Emily Dubosh, Ph.D.,

Mixalis Poulakis, Ph.D. and Nour Abdelghani, M.A.• Islamophobia and Law

Enforcement in a Post 9/11 World

• Hooman Keshavarzi, M.A. & Bilal Ali, Ph.D.• The Role of Forensic

Psychology In Islamic Law: Exploring Judicial Reasoning and Ancient Practices

• Omar Mahmood, Ph.D.• Forensics and Medical Legal

Psychological Evaluations of Muslim clients: Case studies and recommendations

12:30 -1:15 p.m. Lunch

1:15 - 2 p.m. Jummah prayer


2 - 3 p.m. Concurrent sessions

Acculturative Stress and Mental Health • Alean Al-Krenawi, Ph.D.

• The psychological and identity impact on Arab and Jewish adolescents in Israel

• Kanwal Haq, B.S.• Perspectives of emotional

health and resource utilization: An exploratory study of Muslims in Boston

• Hikmet Jamil, M.D., Ph.D.• Longitudinal Study of mental

illness among Muslim immigrants in southeast Michigan from 2010-2013

Islamic Social Services Association (ISSA) Training • Cheryl El-Amin, Ph.D. • Aneesah Nadir, Ph.D.• Zarinah Nadir, Esq.

3 - 3:05 p.m. Break

3:05 - 4:05 p.m. Concurrent sessions

Trauma and its Impact on Mental Health Information Technology • Imman Musa, M.S.• Ayat Nashwan, Ph.D. &

Stan Bowie, Ph.D.• A mixed methods analysis

of Muslims’ responses to the 2015 Chapel Hill shootings: reactions, coping and help-seeking

• Aliya Saeed, M.D.• Violent Extremism:

Psychiatric perspective

ISSA Training (continued)


4:15 - 5:15 p.m. Islamic Treatment• Sofi yyah Low Siew Ping, M.S.

• Therapeutic Process of Spiritual Hypnotherapy from an Islamic Approach

• Alyssa Rippy, Ph.D.• Trauma Informed Care within

Muslim Communities: A recovery based approach for PTSD

Innovative Research• Hena Din

• Pathways to wellness: Exploring Muslim mental health promotion in the digital age

• Fatima Koura, M.A.• Muslim American women in

the workplace: Coping with discrimination

• Olubunmi Oyewuwo-Gassikia, LMSW• Utilization of the criminal

justice system for domestic violence: Exploring motivations, perceptions and outcomes

5:15 - 5:30 p.m. Wrap up

5:30 p.m. Asr prayer and dinner on your own

8 - 11 p.m. Narratives of Pain

SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2016

9 - 10 a.m. Continental breakfast, current research, networking, poster presentations

10 – 10:30 a.m. Journal of Muslim Mental Health: celebrating 10 years • Hamada Hamid, D.O., M.P.H. and editors

10:30 – 11 a.m. Book Introduction – A Very Resilient Amreeki Dream by Almas Akhtar

11 - 12:30 p.m. Muslim Advocacy Panel • Cheryl El-Amin, Ph.D. (moderator)• Juan R.I. Cole, Ph.D., Professor of History, University of Michigan• Altaf Kaiseruddin, M.D., Inner-City Muslim Action Network • Lena Masri, Esq., Council on American Islamic Relations• Zarinah Nadir, Esq., Islamic Social Services Association, US

12:30 – 2 p.m. Lunch and prayer

2 – 3:15 p.m. Black Psychology Panel • Namira Islam, J.D., Study of intra-Muslim ethnic relations: Muslim

Americans view on race relations• Debra Majeed, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies, Beloit College

3:15 - 3:30 p.m. Break

3:30 - 4:30 p.m. American Law/ Sharia Law • Mohammad Khalil, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Adjunct

Professor of Law, Director, Muslim Studies Program, Michigan State University


4:30 – 5 p.m. Mindfulness• Albert S. Aniskiewicz, Ph.D., ABPP, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology,

Michigan State University

5 - 5:30 p.m. Closing remarks and interfaith prayer

5:30 p.m. Asr Prayer and dinner on your own

7 – 9 p.m. Networking event

SUNDAY, MARCH 20,2016

10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Mosque tour and check-out

Muslim Mental Health Conference, 2015 Biographies - Page 8

SPEAKERS AND ABSTRACT PRESENTERS

FARHA Z. ABBASI, M.D.

Farha Abbasi the founder of the Muslim Mental Health Conference, is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University and is a core faculty member with the MSU International Neurologic and Psychiatric Epidemiology Program, the South Asian Studies Center, the Muslim Studies Center and the Multicultural Psychology Consortium. Abbasi is also a staff psychiatrist at MSU’s student health facility, Olin Health Center. Her areas of interest include cultural psychiatry and teaching medical students how to provide culturally appropriate care to Muslim patients. In 2009 Abbasi was selected as a Minority Fellow of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Her work as a psychiatrist has led her to publicly address the barriers that stigmatize and silence mental health issues within the Islamic community.

NOUR ABDELGHANI, M.A.

Nour Abdelghani is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Indianapolis. Her clinical interests include working with children with chronic and acute health problems and families of Middle Eastern descent living in the U.S. Her research interests involve issues of culture and diversity pertaining to Muslims and Arabs living in both the Middle East and in the United States.

JABRIL AHMAD

Jabril Ahmad is a Detroit native and a recent graduate of Wayne County Community College. He is pursuing a career in nursing. He works with Muslin youth in the inner city as a mentor, activist and organizer.

SAMEERA AHMED, PH.D.

Sameera Ahmed is director of the Family & Youth Institute. She serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Muslim Mental Health, is a board licensed psychologist in Ohio and Michigan and a clinical assistant professor at Wayne State University. She holds a Ph.D.. in clinical psychology and her areas of interest include risk and protective factors of Muslim adolescents and young adults, promoting culturally and religiously meaningful psychotherapy, skills-based parenting and marital interventions to strengthen families and mental health promotion using digital platforms. She has presented her research in lectures and workshop across North American in both academic and community settings. Ahmed has published numerous journal articles, book chapters, and is the co-editor of the book, Counseling Muslims: Handbook of Mental Health Issues and Interventions.

BILAL ALI, PH.D.

Bilal Ali is a professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies and a researcher in the fields of Hadith and Islamic Law. He holds degrees in applied behavioral sciences, Arabic and Islamic studies, and advanced Hadith studies. He is the Hadith department chair at Darul Qasim, an Islamic theological college in Glendale Heights, Illinois, and a lecturer at Darul Hikmah, an accelerated adult learning program for Arabic and Islamic studies. He is a board member of Khalil Center, a community spiritual and mental wellness facility. His research and publications include contributions to the Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islamic Bioethics. Bilal Ali has delivered seminars, workshops, and lectures nationally and internationally on a wide variety of religious topics. He has also served as an educational consultant for Muslim seminaries and as an advisor for several community organizations and masjids.


ALBERT S. ANISKIEWICZ, PH.D., ABPP

Albert S. Aniskiewicz is a professor of psychiatry and neurology at Michigan State University. He obtained a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Purdue University and completed an internship in clinical psychology at Duke University Medical Center. He is a diplomate in clinical psychology with the American Board of Professional Psychology and a diplomate in assessment psychology with the American Board of Assessment Psychology. He is a fellow with the Academy of Clinical Psychology and the American Academy of Assessment Psychology. Professor Aniskiewicz authored Psychotherapy for Neuropsychological Challenges, and coauthored with William J. Mueller, Psychotherapeutic Intervention in Hysterical Disorders.

CYNTHIA L. ARFKEN, PH.D.

Cynthia L. Arfken is professor in the Wayne State University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences. She received her Ph.D. in chronic disease epidemiology from Yale University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in alcohol research at the University of California, Berkeley. She was previously on the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, in the division of biostatistics and then in the Center for Health Behavior Research. Her research expertise is on alcohol and drug abuse epidemiology and health services research. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and been an investigator on multiple NIH and foundation grants. As an epidemiologist, she was selected to monitor trends in drug use for the Detroit metropolitan area as part of a national sentinel system on the emergence of new drugs, new methods of administration and new use by demographic groups. She has also been active in the Detroit Wayne County Drug Surveillance Group since its formation.

STAN L. BOWIE, PH.D., MSW

Stan L. Bowie has been on the faculty of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Social Work, for 18 years. Prior to that he taught at the Florida International School of Social Work in Miami. His scholarship has focused primarily on African American families across the lifespan, but he also conducts research on graduate social work education, social work in public housing communities, welfare-reliant families in the U.S., Arab American adolescents and reintegration issues with U.S. military veterans. Bowie has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and books and presented at 35 professional conferences in the U.S. and abroad.

THOMAS BOYD, J.D.

Thomas Boyd was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan and graduated from Michigan State University’s James Madison College in 1985. He earned his J.D. at Wayne State University Law School in 1990 and was appointed assistant attorney general in 1995 by Attorney General Frank J. Kelley. He was appointed Judge in the 55th District Court (Ingham County, Michigan) in July 2005 and elected to continued service in 2006, 2008 and 2014, including service as chief judge from 2008 through 2015. Judge Boyd participated in the Michigan Supreme Court’s Pilot Project on Jury Reform in 2008 and served on the Governor’s Indigent Defense Advisory Commission, 2011-12, and in 2014 was appointed to a four-year term with the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission by Gov. Snyder. Judge Boyd served the Michigan District Judges Association’s as treasurer, secretary, vice president and was recently selected as president-elect. He serves on the Supreme Court Learning Center Advisory Committee, the Michigan Judicial Institute’s District Court Academic Advisory Committee and on the judicial institute’s faculty on several occasions.


JUAN R. I. COLE, PH.D.

Juan R.I. Cole is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. He received a B.A. degree in history and literature of religions at Northwestern University, earned an M.A. in Arabic studies and history at American University in Cairo and a Ph.D. in Islamic studies at UCLA. For three and a half decades, he has sought to put the relationship of the West and the Muslim world in historical context. His most recent book is The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East. He also authored Engaging the Muslim World, Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East, and many other books. He has translated works of Lebanese-American author Kahlil Gibran. He has appeared on such television programs as the Lehrer News Hour, ABC World News Tonight, Nightline, the Today Show, Charlie Rose, Anderson Cooper 360 and the Rachel Maddow Show. He has written widely about Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and South Asia and about the upheavals in the Arab World since 2011, including about Sunni extremist groups and Shiite politics. He has regular columns at The Nation and Truthdig. Cole speaks Arabic, Persian and Urdu and reads Turkish, knows both Middle Eastern and South Asian Islam. He lived in various parts of the Muslim world for more than a decade, and continues to travel widely there.

DEBBIE DINGELL, M.S.

Debbie Dingell was elected U.S. Representative to Congress from Michigan’s 12th District in November 2014. She previously served an eight-year term on the Wayne State University Board of Governors. An active civic and community leader, Dingell is a recognized national advocate for women and children. For more than 30 years she served one of Michigan’s largest employers, the General Motors Corporation, where she was President of the GM Foundation and a senior executive responsible for public affairs. In her commitment to job creation, Dingell recently led the effort to bring the 10,000 Small Businesses initiative, a $20 million partnership designed to help create jobs and economic growth, to southeast Michigan. She is a past chair of the Manufacturing Initiative at the American Automotive Policy Council. She is a founder and past chair of the National Women’s Health Resource Center and the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health. She has served on numerous boards related to women’s issues including the advisory boards for the NIH Panel for Women’s Research, the Michigan Women’s Economic Club, the Susan B. Komen Foundation, and the board of the Michigan Women’s Foundation. She was a co-founder of both the first Race for the Cures in Michigan and in Washington, D.C. She holds a B.S.F.S. in foreign services and an M.S. in liberal studies from Georgetown University.

BRANDY DONINI-MELANSON

Brandy Donini-Melanson has worked within the U.S. Department of Justice for almost 18 years. For the past eight, she has been the law enforcement coordinator (LEC) and secondary spokesperson at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Donini-Melanson has been intricately involved in the local and national effort to develop and implement prevention strategies to reduce violent extremism. She coordinated the Greater Boston Collaborative, which developed and published a multi-disciplinary framework to prevent violent extremism. Locally, she has worked with numerous agencies, organizations and community members to address challenges and work through viable solutions. She is deeply passionate about framing violent extremism prevention through a public health approach and by focusing on social and emotional wellness and engagement with behavioral health specialists. Additionally, Donini-Melanson has sought to enhance community-law enforcement relations, improve interagency coordination and increase training opportunities for law enforcement across Massachusetts.


HENA DIN, MPH

Hena Din is a research assistant with the Family and Youth Institute who works with the research and grant writing teams. She earned an MPH from San Diego State University with a focus on health promotion/behavioral science. Din is also a certified health education specialist with experience in program evaluation, research management and training students on the principles of public health research.

EMILY DUBOSH, PH.D.

Emily Dubosh is a postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University Counseling Services, where she provides students with psychotherapy, assessment and outreach prevention services. A Dearborn, Michigan native, she graduated from the University of Indianapolis School of Psychological Sciences clinical psychology program. Her dissertation focused on understanding Islamophobia and law enforcement. Her clinical and research interests include college student mental health, multiculturally sensitive psychotherapy, advocacy and social justice issues.

ABDUL EL-SAYED, M.D., D.PHIL

Abdul El-Sayed is the executive director of the Detroit Department of Health & Wellness Promotion. Appointed in September 2015 by Mayor Mike Duggan, El-Sayed oversees the department and other health-related issues in Detroit. A Michigan native, he earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan, was named a Rhodes Scholar and is considered an expert in the social determinants of health, health disparities, obesity, preterm birth and infant mortality. He received his M.D. from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and his D.Phil from the University of Oxford, Oriel College/Nuffield Department of Population Health. Prior to taking on the Detroit position, he was an assistant professor at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where he directed the Columbia University Systems Science Program and Global Research Analytics for Population Health.

KANWAL HAQ, B.S.

Kanwal Haq is a graduate student in medical anthropology at the Boston University School of Medicine. Her current research focuses on the ways in which Muslims living in America perceive emotional wellbeing and utilize mental health resources. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biological and biomedical sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

HANAN HASHEM, B.A.

Hanan Hashem is a research assistant at The Family and Youth Institute. Her current research interests include individual and contextual factors that influence American Muslim youth experiences, in particular the intersectionality of race and gender. Hashem is also an involved community member, facilitating workshops and leading mentoring efforts, which serves to inform her research interests. She is currently completing a master’s degree in counseling psychology at Wayne State University and hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in counseling psychology in the future.


MOHAMMAD HASSAN KHALIL, PH.D.

Mohammad Hassan Khalil is the director of the Muslim Studies Program, an associate professor of Religious Studies, and an adjunct professor of law at Michigan State University. He specializes in Islamic thought and is author of Islam and the Fate of Others: The Salvation Question. He is currently writing a book tentatively entitled Jihad and the New Atheism.

NAMIRA ISLAM, J.D.

Namira Islam is a lawyer and graphic designer. She is the co-founder and executive director of MuslimARC, the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative. She has practiced in poverty law, worked in prisoners’ rights litigation and interned at the trial and appellate levels in international criminal law and war crimes for the United Nations. Her legal background includes research on the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training with a focus on racism. Born in Detroit to Bangladeshi parents, Islam is an alumna of the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and the Michigan State University College of Law. She is on Twitter @namirari.

HIKMET JAMIL, M.D., PH.D.

Hikmet Jamil is a professor in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine. His research interests include the impact of environmental exposure (work and home) on the health and wellbeing of new Americans (immigrants and refugees) in particular Arab/Chaldean people. He is also engaged in studies of the health effects from tobacco and waterpipe (hookah) and means to counteract the spread of waterpipe smoking among adolescents. He received his medical degree from Baghdad University and his Ph.D from the University of Manchester, England.

NADINE J. KASLOW, PH.D., ABPP

Nadine J. Kaslow is professor, vice chair, and chief psychologist with the Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She has expertise in psychology education, training and credentialing; family violence; and suicide, mood disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. She’s a past president of the American Psychological Association and of APA’s divisions of Clinical Psychology, Family Psychology and Psychotherapy, the American Board of Clinical Psychology, and the American Board of Professional Psychology. She is former chair and board member emeritus of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers. She has received numerous awards, including the APA Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training Award, an APA Presidential Citation, the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award, Grady Health Foundation’s Inspiring Mentor Award, and Emory University’s Thomas Jefferson Award. The recipient of multiple federally funded grants, she has over 300 publications.

MUNIRA KASSIM, M.A.

Munira Kassim is program supervisor for the Victims of Crime, Abuse, and Torture Programs at ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services) in Dearborn, Michigan. Kassim is a clinical psychologist with an M.A. in clinical psychology from the Michigan School of Professional Psychology and a B.S. in mental health from Madonna University. She is also an active member of the community as she serves as a guest lecturer at many faith-based institutions and maintains her role as a mentor to many underserved young people within her community.


HOOMAN KESHAVARZI, M.A. LCPC

Hooman Keshavarzi, a licensed clinical professional counselor, holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology and a Bachelor of Science in psychology with a minor in Islamic studies. An author of numerous peer-reviewed journal publications, he is an adjunct professor of psychology at Argosy University Chicago, American Islamic College, Hartford Seminary and instructor of psychology at Islamic Online University. He also serves as executive director of the Khalil Center, a community spiritual and mental wellness facility. A fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding at the Global Health Center, Keshavarzi is conducting research on topics related to Muslims and mental health.

FATIMA KOURA, M.S.

Fatima Koura graduated from Drew University with a master’s degree in women’s studies. She is involved with organizations that help domestic abuse victims. She has presented her research on Muslim American women nationally and internationally and has published articles about the experiences of Muslim women in the workplace. Koura is in the process on publishing a book on Muslim women who wear the hijab in the American workplace.

JOE LINSTROTH

Joe Linstroth is the interim executive producer of Stateside, Michigan Radio’s daily news show. He is also the founding executive producer of The Next Idea, a project at Michigan Radio that explores new ideas to break the status quo in Michigan. Prior to joining the Michigan Radio team, he was a producer for WBEZ in Chicago, mostly in global affairs, and the founding senior producer of Current State at WKAR in East Lansing. In previous lives, he co-founded two sketch comedy groups in Chicago and was a case manager and health services coordinator for a 250-bed homeless shelter on the city’s west side. Originally from Minnesota, Linstroth has a BA in history from the University of Michigan and an MA in journalism from Indiana University.

SOFIYYAH LOW SIEW PING, M.S.

Sofiyyah Low Siew Ping holds a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology and a Master of Science in guidance and counseling from the University of Putra Malaysia. Her areas of expertise include marital and family therapy, career counseling and individual and group counseling. She is currently a psychology officer in the Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology at the University of Putra Malaysia.

IMAM MOHAMED MAGID

Mohamed Magid is the Imam of All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center in Sterling, Virginia and under his direction, the center has grown to be one of the largest Muslim community organizations in the Washington Metropolitan Area. He is the chairman of International Interfaith Peace Corps and served as the president of the Islamic Society of North America. He also occupies the chairmanship of the Fairfax County Faith Communities in Action, and is a chaplin of George Mason University Campus Ministry. He the Vice Chairman of Muflehun, a think tank focusing on confronting violent extremist thought through research-driven preventative programs within a religious paradigm. Magid has a long history of commitment to public service through organizations, such as The Peaceful Families Project. He’s co-authored three books and has helped training and workshops for Imams and religious leaders, domestically and internationally, on the issue of violence against women. He has written for several major media outlets and was the recipient of the Washingtonian of the Year award in 2009 and the 2005 Human Rights Award from Fairfax County.


OMAR M. MAHMOOD, PH.D.

Omar M. Mahmood is a clinical neuropsychologist based in Southern California. His clinical focus is in the psychological assessment of children and adults and he has provided expertise in a number of legal and forensic cases. He is licensed to practice psychology in California and has also worked as a consultant neuropsychologist with Muslim and Arab clients in North America and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Kuwait). He serves as a national advisor to the Muslim Youth of North America and is on the board of directors for Access California Services, a community-based agency that provides social services to the Arab American and Muslim populations in southern California.

DEBRA MAJEED, PH.D.

Debra Majeed is professor of religious studies at Beloit College. She is a religious historian who has made the interconnection between religion, gender and justice central to her life’s work. She is the first African American female and first Muslim to be tenured in the 169-year history of Beloit College. Her contributions to social justice on the campus and in the larger community led the city of Beloit to proclaim January 21, 2011, “Dr. Debra Majeed Day.” With the publication of her groundbreaking work, Polygyny: What It Means When African American Muslim Women Share Their Husbands, Majeed continues to consult with families engaged in custody and other family law matters, especially those involving the characterization of multiple-wife marriage as grounds for declaring mothers to be unfit parents.

LENA F. MASRI, ESQ.

Lena Masri is the senior staff attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Michigan (CAIR-MI) and manages her own law firm, Masri Law Office, PLLC. She focuses her practice in the areas of civil rights litigation, immigration, international adoptions, asset protection and is licensed to practice law in Michigan, New York and Washington, D.C. She holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Indiana University - Indianapolis, School of Law, where she focused her studies in international and comparative law and international human rights law. She has been honored by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 2013 and 2014 for her pro bono work on behalf of poor and indigent clients. She principally authored and presented a shadow report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and delivered a speech before the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism.

BARBARA L. MCQUADE, J.D.

Barbara L. McQuade is the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. McQuade has sought to use the resources of the U.S. Attorney’s Office to improve the quality of life for the people of Michigan through enforcement, prevention and community trust. Upon taking office in January 2010, she restructured the office for the first time in more than 35 years to align attorney resources with the priorities of the district: national security, violent crime, public corruption, civil rights and financial fraud. The first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, McQuade is a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and chairs the Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee. In 2012 she joined with other law enforcement leaders to launch Detroit One, a violence reduction strategy and community partnership. Since Detroit One began, homicide rates have dropped by 24 percent and in 2015 Detroit saw its lowest homicide rate since 1967.


MELODY MOEZZI, J.D.

Melody Moezzi is a writer, activist, attorney and award-winning author. Her latest book is Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life. Moezzi is also a United Nations Global Expert, an opinion leader for the British Council’s Our Shared Future initiative, a blogger for The Huffington Post and Ms. Magazine, as well as a regular columnist and blogger for bp Magazine. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Guardian and many other outlets. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband, Matthew, and their cats, Nazanin and Keshmesh.

IMMAN MUSA, M.S.

Imman Musa is a third year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Saint Louis University. Her current research involves discrimination, identity and mental health outcomes among Muslim Americans. She has also completed research on acculturation and bicultural identity of Muslim immigrants. Clinically, Musa is interested in issues related to identity, acculturation, minority stress and health. She has worked as a counselor on a college campus as well as in community and health care settings. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Louis University.

OLUBUNMI OYEWUWO-GASSIKIA, LMSW

Olubunmi Oyewuwo-Gassikia is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work. She also completed a graduate portfolio in nonprofit studies from the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service. Oyewuwo-Gassikia worked in a domestic violence shelter as a legal advocate and then in a battering intervention and prevention program as a group facilitator. Oyewuwo-Gassikia is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work. Her dissertation examines how the intersection of race, gender, and religion influences domestic violence coping responses among an ethnically diverse sample of Black Muslim women.

ANEESAH NADIR, MSW, PH.D.

Aneesah Nadir is CEO of Dr. Aneesah Nadir & Associates and owns her own Independent LegalShield Agency, which provides quality, affordable legal services. She is a social entrepreneur and a social worker, author, national speaker, consultant, diversity trainer and marriage and family life educator. She provides premarital advisement and marriage education seminars for single, engaged and married Muslims throughout the country. Nadir also serves as the president of the Islamic Social Services Association-USA and manages ISSA-USA’s Sakinah Healthy Marriage Initiative, a national campaign to promote healthy marriage among Muslim Americans.

AYAT J. J. NASHWAN, PH.D., M.A.

Ayat Nashwan is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Yarmouk University in Ibrid, Jordan. She received her Ph.D. in social work from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Social Work, and her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in sociology from the University of Jordan. Nashwan’s research focus is Arab families across the lifespan, with a current focus on women, girls and adolescents. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Nashwan has worked in leadership positions with disaster health care clinics, presented research at several international human service workshops and served as an expert panelist for a variety of professional workshops, presentations and broadcasts.


SAARA PATEL, LLMSW

Saara Patel earned an MSW at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and recently began work as a home-based infant mental health therapist for the Arab American & Chaldean Council based in Detroit. She is also a research assistant at The Family & Youth Institute and focuses her work on Muslim youth, particularly challenges and issues young converts face. While at the University of Michigan, Patel was part of the Detroit Clinical Scholars Program where her course work and internship involved working with ethnic minority youth in urban areas of Wayne County using integrated health methods. She has previous experience working with ethnic minority youth in domestic violence shelters, restorative programs in schools and in sexual assault cases. Patel lives in Michigan with her husband and three children, and enjoys traveling, participating in interfaith outreach programs and playing floor hockey.

MIXALIS POULAKIS, PH.D.

Mixalis Poulakis is an assistant professor at the University of Indianapolis School of Psychological Sciences. He immigrated to the United States from Piraues, Greece in 1992. In 2002 he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Indianapolis in clinical psychology. His research interests lie in the areas of multiculturalism, south Asian psychology and LGBT issues.

ALYSSA RIPPY, PH.D.

Alyssa Rippy is a program coordinator for the Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center at the Jack. C. Montgomery VAMC in Tulsa. She treats veterans with severe mental illness, including PTSD, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and is also the director of pre-doctoral training. She received her Ph.D in clinical psychology from the University of Tulsa with a focus in combat-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. She has examined the effects of discrimination on PTSD and subclinical paranoia among Muslim Americans following 9/11 and has also worked with the Tulsa Islamic Society as an advisor on mental health related issues in the local Muslim community.

IMAM JIHAD SAAFIR

Jihad Saafir has been Masjid Ibaadillah’s resident Imam since 2008. He received a B.A. in Arabic studies and his Master’s degree in Islamic leadership in 2013. While pursuing his academics, he also studied traditional books of Islamic law and Arabic grammar under qualified teachers. He is also the director of Islah LA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conducting social services in South Los Angeles; and Islah Academy, a full-time Islamic school that accommodates grades pre-k through seventh grade. He is working on his Ph.D in practical theology on the religious education track at Claremont School of Theology.

ALIYA SAEED, M.D.

Aliya Saeed is a psychiatrist in private practice in upstate New York. She is a member of the terrorism and violence committee of Group of Advancement in Psychiatry (GAP). She has published essays in the Guardian and Albany Times Union and Schenectady’s Daily Gazette on matters relating to terrorism, the Muslim American experience and immigration. She is an active member of her faith community and has held a number of leadership positions.


ZAIN SHAMOON, M.A.

Zain Shamoon is a marriage and family therapist, who earned an M.A. from Michigan State University in 2011 and will soon completed a doctorate in Couples and family therapy at MSU. His dissertation addresses domestic violence among South Asian families in the U.S., including cultural considerations for effective treatment, intervention, and prevention. His therapeutic convictions include emotionally focused therapy, experiential therapy, attachment, solution-focused and client-centered approaches. His clinical interests include struggles faced by disadvantage minority communities in health services, including disparities and epidemics, as well as attachment injuries and couple and family cohesion issues. Shamoon has also served as a minority fellow through the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, and is currently the creative director for the Institute of Muslim Mental Health.

WASEEM ULLAH, M.D.

Waseem Ullah is a social entrepreneur by passion and an ER/neuro-radiologist by profession with years of clinical and organization-building and leading experience. He founded and led two successful nonprofits, iCAN and DREAM of Detroit . Ullah owns MI Express Care, an urgent care clinic, and co-founded Zipy Care, of a telehealth company.


Documents

BUILDING HARMONY BETWEEN PSYCHE & LAW