Questioning Western Psychiatric Universality

Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (Feb 2026)

Dr. Samah Jabr, a Palestinian psychiatrist and author of Radiance in Pain and Resilience, joins Dr. Mays Imad (with questions from the audience chat) for a conversation about what it means to stay human when the structures meant to protect people are the ones doing the harm. Drawing on decades of clinical work inside the occupation, Dr. Jabr moves past the “sanitized” versions of trauma to speak directly to the heart of colonial harm in Palestine.

Central to this dialogue is an exploration of the deep ontological differences between Western psychiatric models and Palestinian lived experience. While Western frameworks often pathologize the individual through the lens of PTSD, Dr. Jabr introduces the concept of iptila—viewing tribulations through a framework of agency, faith, and collective endurance. She challenges the frequent romanticization of sumud (steadfastness), reframing it not as a poetic trope, but as a grueling relational practice and an ethical refusal to disappear when everything conspires toward Palestinian erasure.

In a reality where the harm never ends, memory becomes a battlefield, grief a form of testimony, bearing witness an active refusal to normalize the unacceptable, and storytelling a vital survival infrastructure against the assassination of memory.

Join Dr. Samah Jabr · March 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2026 • 9:00 – 11:00am PST
Decolonial Mental Health Practice: Clinical and Ethical Insights from Palestine
A four-part webinar presented by SAND

Topics

• 00:00 Welcome & Why We Need a New Framework for Trauma and Justice
• 02:15 “If I Must Die”: Carrying Memory, Refusing Normalization
• 03:13 Introducing Dr. Samah Jabr’s Work: Pain, Power, and a Counter-Narrative
• 07:55 A Childhood Lesson in Naming: Robinson Crusoe and Colonial Language
• 10:10 Clinic Stories: When Political Reality Shapes Symptoms
• 14:14 Beyond Western Psychiatry: Language, Resilience, and Context as the ‘Pathology’
• 17:19 The ‘Fear of Dogs’ Case: History, Colonial Violence, and Clinical Meaning
• 20:40 When Systems Collapse: Gaza’s Crushed Mental-Health Response & Organic Community Care
• 25:04 Collective Healing & the Kite Intervention: Building Agency and Connection
• 29:31 From Mobilization to Organization: Global Solidarity and Liberation
• 34:31 How to Keep Working: Hope, Spirituality, and Protecting Health Workers
• 41:58 Meaning-Making in Crisis: The Palm Tree Story and Spiritual Grounding
• 45:22 Spirituality as Resilience: Listening for What Helps Each Person
• 47:13 Scaling Mental Health Support in Palestine: Training Community Helpers
• 49:00 Creating “Healing Spaces”: Group Support for Journalists, Youth & Displaced Women
• 53:22 Reporting Gaza From Afar: Citizen Journalism, Narrative Control & Ethical Witnessing
• 59:44 How to Support Palestine Sustainably: Remote Mental Health, Publishing & Advocacy
• 01:05:37 Colonialism, Patriarchy & Horizontal Violence: When Trauma Damages the Social Fabric
• 01:10:03 Meaning-Making Under Protracted Trauma: Tila, Agency & Shattered Belief Systems
• 01:15:16 Diaspora Palestinians: From Helping Family to Leading Global Political Solidarity
• 01:21:55 Closing Charge: Being Human After Mass Violence + Upcoming Webinars & Films

Resources

• Dr. Samah Jabr’s book

• Art by Fernando Martí and Jess X. Snow, inspired by Huda Suboh’s quote:

• “In the heart of Gaza, where the echoes of war reverberate through the streets… each day, glimmers of hope that dance across the sky—kites.” — Rafah, 2024

• Support this conversation by donating to Sumud Network for Mental Health and Healing for Gaza

Where Olive Trees Weep (Film by SAND on Palestine (2024) with more Resources and a course on Palestine)