Race, Research, and Practice

When:
November 2, 2020 @ 9:30 am – 12:28 pm
2020-11-02T09:30:00-08:00
2020-11-02T12:28:00-08:00
Where:
Online Event
Cost:
Free
This webinar is organised by students from the UCL Division of Psychiatry and will focus on race, research, and clinical practice.

About this Event

The webinar will be hosted on zoom, the link will be sent on November 1st (Registration closes on Nov 1 at 7pm GMT). See Below for further detail on our speakers and the topics they will be discussing.

SCHEDULE:

9.30-9.40: Introduction

9.40 – 10.10: Speaker 1

Dr. Tarek Younis

‘Beyond Bad Apples: Thinking Racism Through Policy’

10.10 – 10.20: Questions

10.20 – 10.50: Speaker 2

Dr. Adam Danquah

‘Challenging Black and White Thinking in Race and Clinical Practice / Research’

10.50 – 11.00: Questions

11.00 – 11.10: Break

11.10 – 11.40: Speaker 3

Dr Ahmed Hankir

‘Canaries in a coalmine’: Islamophobia and Muslim Mental Health’

11.40 – 11.50: Questions

11.50 – 12.20: Speaker 4

Leila Lawton

‘Implications of systemic Racism within Research, on Ethics & Clinical Practice’

12:20 – 12.30: Questions

Talk Descriptions:

Talk 1: ‘Beyond Bad Apples: Thinking Racism Through Policy’ – Dr. Tarek Younis

This presentation serves as a reflection on the challenges of researching racism in healthcare in a post-racial context. It will explore how prejudice is given preference to policy, and discuss how colour-blindness and representation politics evades how racism is legitimised through institutional practices. It will provide some thoughts for future research.

Talk 2: ‘Challenging Black and White Thinking in Race and Clinical Practice / Research’ – Dr. Adam Danquah

In this presentation I would like to draw on both my experiences as a clinician and lecturer and psychoanalytic theory (including attachment theory) to highlight the negative impact of black and white thinking in the field of race and clinical practice / research.Black and white thinking is a much used term in psychotherapy, especially CBT, denoting the unhelpful tendency towards dichotomy in our seeing and dealing with the world. I borrow this term and apply it to perhaps the ultimate binary, black or white people, with a view to showing just how much we are pulled towards the edges and away from each other, even when – sometimes especially when – we are trying to do the very opposite through anti-racist or inclusive practice.I contend that there are fundamental anxieties at play, which the psychoanalytic approach can help us to identify. I have some suggestions for how we can work with these anxieties, but bring questions too, and hope to start a dialogue with representatives from the Division of Psychiatry about what we do.

Talk 3: ‘Canaries in a Coalmine’: Islamophobia and Muslim Mental Health’ – Dr Ahmed Hankir

Islam is the second largest religion in the UK with approximately 5% of the population identifying as Muslim. Healthcare professionals are therefore likely to work alongside and provide care to Muslim people. The rise of radicalization, populism and isolationism and the demonization and vilification of Muslims by demagogues and segments of the media have all colluded and conspired to contribute to heightened levels of Islamophobia in the West. Scholars argue that Islamophobia has also stealthily infiltrated the provision of healthcare services in the UK in the guise of the controversial Prevent programme. Recent empirical research has revealed that there is a clear association between Islamophobia and psychological distress in Muslims and those perceived as Muslim. In this session we will delve into the aetiology of Islamophobia and explore how this type of discrimination has become racialized, discuss the far reaching ramifications of anti-Muslim hatred and provide you with the tools to challenge this pernicious phenomena

Talk 4: ‘Implications of systemic Racism within Research, on Ethics & Clinical Practice’ – Leila Lawton

Speaker Bios

Dr. Tarek Younis

Dr Tarek Younis is a Lecturer in Psychology at Middlesex University. He researches and writes on Islamophobia, racism in mental health, and the securitisation of clinical settings. He teaches on the impact of culture, religion, globalization and security policies on mental health.

Dr. Adam Danquah

I am a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester. I am especially interested in how as a profession we reckon with difference and representation. I find the psychoanalytic approach the richest and most useful body of understanding and practice for addressing how we deal with adversity. In order to extend the reach of these ideas, I have co-edited two books on how attachment theory can be applied to mental health.

I am focusing my teaching and research increasingly on helping practitioners deal with the impact and challenges of the work we do, including the provocations of vulnerability, intercultural practice, and finding a way to remain thinking throughout.

After obtaining my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, I went to live and work as a psychologist and lecturer in Ghana, West Africa. As well contributing to the Ghana Health Service and psychology curriculum at the University of Ghana, we launched Ghana’s first journal dedicated to psychology and mental health. On returning to the UK, I trained in Inter-cultural Psychodynamic Psychotherapy at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr. Ahmed Hankir

Dr Ahmed Hankir MBChB MRCPsych is Senior Research fellow at the Centre for Mental Health Research in association with Cambridge University and Academic Clinical Fellow in General Adult Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London.

Dr Hankir’s research interests include global and Muslim mental health and pioneering and evaluating innovative programs that challenge mental health related stigma and he has published extensively in these areas. Dr Hankir co-edited a textbook on Islamophobia and Psychiatry with Professor Rania Awaad at Stanford University who presented her research findings on Muslim mental health to Barack Obama at the White House. Dr Hankirs has also co-edited a textbook on Anti-Semitism and Psychiatry (published by Springer) and is currently co-editing a textbook on Christianity and Psychiatry (due for publication by Springer in 2021).

Dr Hankir was consulted by the New Zealand Government and played an instrumental role in the authorization of $1 million dollars for research on the psychological effects of the Christchurch Mosque terror attack. Dr Hankir presented his research findings on Muslim perceptions of British combat troops to Ministry of Defence officials at Whitehall. Dr Hankir was an expert reviewer for the World Health Organization Good Practice on Community Mental Health Services. Dr Hankir is the recipient of numerous awards including the Royal College of Psychiatrists Foundation Doctor and Core Psychiatry Trainee of the Year Awards which mark the highest level of achievement in psychiatry in the UK.

In recognition of his services to public engagement and education and his research and scholarly outputs, Dr Hankir was appointed Visiting Professor of Academic Psychiatry at the Carrick Institute for Graduate Studies, USA.

Leila Lawton

Leila is a Mum of three, accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, Clinical Supervisor, Equity Activist and Part time lecturer. She chairs the South London & Maudsley NHS Trust psychology & psychotherapy (P&P) race equity working group and is a member of the British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies Equality & Culture group.

Her passion for people, inclusive clinical and research practice is cultivated through 16 years combined experience within mental health and social care. Enhancing effectiveness of implementation of culturally congruent therapies.

With lived experience of mental health difficulties, oppression and discrimination. Her reflexivity in clinical practice, demonstrates knowledge of intersectionality and power imbalance. She aims to inform the evidence-base and empower communities.

Leila is committed to developing solutions through education to address systemic and structural racism, increasing BAME research participation and shaping policy for meaningful change.

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