The Mindful Muslim Podcast – #027 – Disparity, Religion and Psychotherapy with Dr Sara Betteridge

The Mindful Muslim is an Inspirited Minds podcast that hosts raw, open, and honest conversations on various topics within the sphere of mental health, psychology, Islam and spirituality.
In this episode, we meet Dr. Sara Betteridge who is a psychologist and family therapist in Adult Mental Health. Our host, Meanha Begum, has an open discussion with Dr. Sara about her family culture of working in mental health, her experience of incorporating Islam into psychological therapy and her journey to becoming a senior chartered counselling psychologist. Her work ranges from being a Family Therapist for an adult eating disorder unit, a Community Psychologist for the Black, Minority and Ethnic (BME) Community Psychology Access team in Tower Hamlets, delivering staff-training on the needs of the local communities, and working in her independent practise offering her expertise.
She shares her knowledge and experiences over the course of her practice in terms of the current mental health landscape in the UK; its strengths, weaknesses and points to improve on. Some of the topics she talks about include:
The gap between secular psycho-therapy and religious therapy, and how they can be integrated together in the field of mental health
How to balance our spiritual side and our faith with secular approaches to mental health and wellbeing
The importance of tying your camel first and then putting your trust in Allah (SWT) because acting to help yourself is the first step
The downside of certain cultural practices when it comes to having difficult and emotionally nurturing conversations with children and youth
The balance between Jinn/evil eye and mental health illness
How the NHS model can have limitations when it comes to religious content within a therapeutic setting
Institutionalised racism within major healthcare providers, especially towards BAME patients and clients
The pros and cons of having a mental health therapist who is of the same faith
This episode is dedicated to Dr. Sara’s father – Assam Korim – who died after the filming of this podcast episode from Covid-19. May Allah (SWT) have mercy on him, Ameen. You can contact Dr. Sara emailing imaancounselling@googlemail.com. 
If you would like to ask us a question, suggest a topic you would like us to discuss on the podcast or if you would like to feature on the podcast as a guest, then please get in touch with the Mindful Muslim Podcast Team at podcast@inspiritedminds.org.uk.
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