New Frontiers in Mental Health Care Access

Muslims don’t often seek mental healthcare because of the dearth of services that integrate faith-based concepts into treatment practices. Instead, they seek help from family members, clergymen - people who don’t have the formal training to provide them with adequate care. Dr Hooman Keshavarzi’s Khalil Center provides that much-needed oasis that is a confluence of psychiatry and the Islamic faith.

Deconstructing stereotypes around homelessness lies at the core of Dr. Igda Martinez’s work at the Floating Hospital. For 150 years, the New York hospital has made psychiatric care available to unhoused populations who are among society’s most neglected. Shannette Champman, a mother of two, shares her experience of seeking care when she was in need of accessible mental health care.

At the end of her first marriage, a doctor diagnosed Marià Baig’s bipolar disorder in five minutes, without knowing anything about her spiritual or cultural life. At the Khalil Center, she found a safe space that felt like home after years of being ignored and feeling invisible. Her new treatment, centered around her faith and culture, inspired her to come back and continue therapy.