: An Islamic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Approach (CBT) for Helping Clients with Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Problems

Abstract

Counseling is a very value laden discipline. Some counseling approaches may not be suitable for a particular population because the values assumed by the framework are in conflict with the values held by the population. This paper outlines the principles of Islamic counseling, and demonstrates an Islamic adaptation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the treatment of clients who have gender identity or sexual orientation problem. The contemporary mainstream Western counseling psychology has a laissez-faire approach to sexual orientation. Counselors are supposed to encourage clients to be ‘true’ to their sexual preferences, and the goals of counseling for homosexual clients would be to help them adjust to life as a homosexual. On the other hand, Islam has a very strict and clear-cut stand on gender roles and sexual conducts, from dressing codes to sexual acts. For effective Islamic intervention, the author suggests the use of Dialectical Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The intervention strategies proposed are: 1) help clients cope with the problem by normalizing the experience - most human beings have some tendencies to desire things that are forbidden by Allalh 2) help clients create Islamic goals by providing realistic Islamic norms - mainly by focusing on human’s role in this life 3) help clients deal with the possibility of failure by teaching client Allah’s view towards human effort and failure.