ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the role, function, and expression of emotions according to both traditional Islamic scholarly writings and emotion theories in modern psychology. Emotion-focused psychotherapy (EFT) is closely examined through a comparative analysis between the theoretical underpinnings of this theory and Islamic conceptions of the human emotional experience. A reconciliatory and filtration approach is taken to offer a Traditional islamically Integraged Psychotherapy (TIIP) conceptual framework of working with emotions. The core principles of emotion theory are adapted and adopted into a TIIP ontological framework while offering a nuanced conceptualization and approach to its therapeutic applications.
The TIIP conceptualization of working with emotions expands dialectical constructivism to “theistic trilectual constructivism” that characterizes emotions as originating from (1) nafs, (2) ‘aql, and (3) rūḥ. Trilectual constructivism holds that emotions originate out of these three inherent sources and are consolidated within the meaning-making cognitive constructs of their sociocultural environments. These experiences become internalized as emotion schemes and can be either adaptive or maladaptive in facilitating or serving as barriers to the underlying balanced needs of their emotions. The therapeutic encounter is designed to allow for a re-expression and reprocessing of emotions, facilitating the replacement of maladaptive emotions with adaptive emotional expressions. This further leads to emotional transformation and cognitive reconsolidation of a healthier emotion scheme within the context of therapy that is believed to impact therapeutic change and lead to remission of symptoms. A case illustration of an Islamic guided imagery, ‘taṣawwur’, is provided as a practical demonstration of TIIP emotionally oriented psychotherapy.
