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• I would like to commend you for your inclusion of the ‘Day in the life’ interview in the May issue regarding spirituality and the perspective of therapist Salma Khalid regarding counselling from an Islamic perspective.
  
  Having recently received my BACP certificate of accreditation, one of my interests is to work more actively in the black and minority ethnic (BME) arena by promoting psychological therapies and eradicating the stigma often associated with it among ethnic minorities. On completing my counselling training and a BA (Hons) degree in psychodynamic counselling in 2009, like Salma, my own experience as a female British Muslim was that any focus on the issues of difference and diversity were largely given a focus on the teaching curriculum because it was more the ‘politically correct’ thing to do.
  
  Training institutions still seem reluctant to incorporate faith and spirituality within their programmes. One of my former tutors, who had left Catholicism before entering the counselling profession, often struggled with my inclusion of my faith within written assignments, believing it had little connection to counselling work. I felt undermined at times. It is as if some in the profession feel that they are threatened by faith.
  
  In fact, this was one reason that inspired me to conduct research regarding Western models and their effect in relation to BME groups. I would add that this was not hugely encouraged in my training and was a project that I undertook with independent and determined spirit. The other motivation is that I have grown up with the harsh and painful reality of family members who suffer from psychosis and who are ashamed of the very concept of ‘mental’ health, trying to pretend that it would simply evaporate.
  
  Though we are moving on slowly, there is still a long way to go in altering perceptions, but Salma seems well on the road to achieving this, perhaps partly due to residing in a culturally diverse area. Asian individuals are underrepresented within the profession of psychological therapies and not enough space is afforded to the very important issue of identity and how it may be connected to a person’s religious or spiritual perspective. If it isn’t talked about, it becomes the elephant in the room.
  
  Like Salma, I have followed EastEnders for 20 years and am glad that it has brought to the forefront the difficult issue of a Muslim family encountering homosexuality. It has opened up the discussion around working with clients who might be gay but from a Muslim background and the extreme prejudices that this would invite.
  
  In the same vein, when counselling an individual who is defined by their faith, among other factors, it is surely only ethical to be able to talk about it in a ‘competent’ way in order to fully and sensitively reach those we are counselling. It will take time to invest in, but hopefully change will come for both the clinicians who are delivering counselling and those who are on the receiving end, but might be both fearful and sceptical of it. We are dealing with individuals whose psyches are defined by a range of external and internal influences, but essentially who are human beings first.

• Fauzia Gaba
  MBACP