Today, I share new findings from the Enhancing Practice-Based Evidence for Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies project, focusing on a recent study by Dr. Fahad Khan and Dr. Hooman Keshavarzi. Their research, published in APA's journal, Spirituality in Clinical Practice, explores a therapy approach tailored for Muslims (Khan et al., 2025). I thank Khan and Keshavarzi for their assistance in writing this post.

Fifteen years ago, a Muslim couple from the Middle East came to my office for marital counseling. Although I had edited a book on psychotherapy and religious diversity, including a chapter on working with Muslims (Hedayat-Diba, 2014), I had never counseled Muslim clients before. I felt unprepared and lacked colleagues to consult or refer to.

I did my best. The couple seemed to appreciate my sincerity, but by the third session, the wife announced she would file for divorce. They never returned. I viewed this as a therapeutic failure, but at the time, resources for working with Muslim clients were limited. Fortunately, that is changing.

Using a practice-based evidence approach, Khan and Keshavarzi explored the clinical efficacy of an Islamic model of psychotherapy, Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy (TIIP; Keshavarzi et al., 2021). The practice-based research methodology allows researchers to collect valuable, real-world data from clinical settings (Barkham et al., 2010). Five clinicians trained in the TIIP model provided services to 107 patients in 420 sessions at the Khalil Center, an outpatient mental health facility headquartered in Chicago that addresses Muslim mental health concerns.

The TIIP model does not follow a rigid, manualized approach but instead integrates a distinct set of religiously and culturally tailored interventions. It grounds itself in Islamic principles and values and offers a holistic view of human nature by integrating evidence-based and Islamic spiritual interventions. The model centers on its comprehensive........

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