Since the onset of Israel's war on Gaza, the wellbeing industry's silence on the crisis highlights a failure to uphold empathy, social justice, and support
Yanar Alkayat
04 December, 2024
For over a year, my psychotherapy sessions have been dominated by one central issue – Gaza and Palestine. From the grief of witnessing harrowing scenes daily to navigating friendships that have gone silent, I’ve had space to discuss it all.
This contrasts sharply with Seth* from London, whose therapist quickly changed the subject when he brought up Gaza.
“When I explained the massacres were what I wanted to discuss, they visibly disconnected and looked bored. In my next session, they said, ‘We’re here to talk about you, not other people’. That’s when I knew I had to leave that therapist.”
"The professions of psychiatry, psychology and social work are based on the basic principle of empathy, to put yourself in other people's shoes and feel their pain, their anguish and emotional difficulty, which is completely lacking in this situation. They are not adhering to their basic ethical duties at this point"
It’s not just in the therapy room where politics has been met with bias. In November 2023, during a stay at a yoga ashram in India, I faced a similar dissonance: while figureheads expressed condolences for Israelis, they failed to acknowledge the killing of more than 10,000 Palestinians by then. This omission was glaring and concerning.
I’m not alone in noticing such exclusive compassion. Gabor Mate, a prominent voice in trauma psychology, has openly criticised therapy and spiritual leaders for their silence on the grief, rage and despair felt by those within and beyond Gaza.
The psychological need extends beyond those directly impacted by unimaginable loss, forced displacement, starvation and siege.
Millions worldwide bear the emotional weight of collective grief. This is further compounded by the denial, censorship, ignorance and apathy of governments, workplaces and society.
“There’s a raw exposure to these atrocities… [people are] seeing it on their cell phones …and they’re not able to express themselves because many providers are hesitant to discuss these issues in therapy [because of] so-called neutrality,” says Mansoor Malik, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
04 December, 2024
For over a year, my psychotherapy sessions have been dominated by one central issue – Gaza and Palestine. From the grief of witnessing harrowing scenes daily to navigating friendships that have gone silent, I’ve had space to discuss it all.
This contrasts sharply with Seth* from London, whose therapist quickly changed the subject when he brought up Gaza.
“When I explained the massacres were what I wanted to discuss, they visibly disconnected and looked bored. In my next session, they said, ‘We’re here to talk about you, not other people’. That’s when I knew I had to leave that therapist.”
"The professions of psychiatry, psychology and social work are based on the basic principle of empathy, to put yourself in other people's shoes and feel their pain, their anguish and emotional difficulty, which is completely lacking in this situation. They are not adhering to their basic ethical duties at this point"
It’s not just in the therapy room where politics has been met with bias. In November 2023, during a stay at a yoga ashram in India, I faced a similar dissonance: while figureheads expressed condolences for Israelis, they failed to acknowledge the killing of more than 10,000 Palestinians by then. This omission was glaring and concerning.
I’m not alone in noticing such exclusive compassion. Gabor Mate, a prominent voice in trauma psychology, has openly criticised therapy and spiritual leaders for their silence on the grief, rage and despair felt by those within and beyond Gaza.
The psychological need extends beyond those directly impacted by unimaginable loss, forced displacement, starvation and siege.
Millions worldwide bear the emotional weight of collective grief. This is further compounded by the denial, censorship, ignorance and apathy of governments, workplaces and society.
“There’s a raw exposure to these atrocities… [people are] seeing it on their cell phones …and they’re not able to express themselves because many providers are hesitant to discuss these issues in therapy [because of] so-called neutrality,” says Mansoor Malik, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Pro-Palestine activists took to the streets of London in November for the National Demonstration for Palestine calling for a ceasefire and a stop to arming Israel [Getty]
Mansoor critiques the profession for abandoning its core principle of empathy, stating, “The professions of psychiatry, psychology and social work are based on the basic principle of empathy, to put yourself in other people's shoes and feel their pain, their anguish and emotional difficulty, which is completely lacking in this situation. They are not adhering to their basic ethical duties at this point.”
When such needs are met with silence or inadequate support from professionals and institutions meant to foster mental wellness, the harm is magnified.
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Mansoor critiques the profession for abandoning its core principle of empathy, stating, “The professions of psychiatry, psychology and social work are based on the basic principle of empathy, to put yourself in other people's shoes and feel their pain, their anguish and emotional difficulty, which is completely lacking in this situation. They are not adhering to their basic ethical duties at this point.”
When such needs are met with silence or inadequate support from professionals and institutions meant to foster mental wellness, the harm is magnified.
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After 7 October 2023, key medical and psychiatric associations in the UK and US released position statements only condemning the Hamas attack and loss of life in Israel.
The World Psychiatric Association (WPA), condemned the “unimaginable slaughter and hostage-taking” while the American Psychiatric Association (APA), explicitly condemned “the brutalities of Hamas”, expressing allegiance with Jewish people.
Both statements raise questions about neutrality.
The WPA has since expressed no concern for the catastrophic suffering in Gaza, while the APA’s follow-up statement in April 2024 spoke of escalating mental health concerns but refrained from naming Israel as the aggressor, highlighting inconsistencies in language and tone. The New Arab questioned the WPA and APA about this but has yet to receive a response.
Speaking to this, Mansoor says, “Either they should not have condemned [the Hamas attacks], and if they did, they cannot now hide behind the facade of neutrality when even worse atrocities have been happening every day for over a year.”
Mansoor adds, “I think there is a lot of pressure from funders of these organisations; they do not want [criticism of] Israel…whatsoever. That is what we are running up against.”
"Western psychology is rooted in white-cis-hetero supremacist delusion, seeking to not only gain dominance over but to eliminate those that do not fit into its narrow, nonsensical supremacist ideals"
In contrast, a few organisations and institutions have publicly recognised the suffering of Palestinians and called for immediate action. These include the American Public Health Association, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, the American Medical Students Association and the World Medical Association.
This disparity highlights the deeper systemic issues at play. Melody Li, licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of Inclusive Therapists, in an open letter with Dr Jennifer Mullan, founder of Decolonizing Therapy and Hammam Farah, therapist and activist at Elham Fund, call out the mental health field’s complicity.
“Western psychology is rooted in white-cis-hetero supremacist delusion, seeking to not only gain dominance over but to eliminate those that do not fit into its narrow, nonsensical supremacist ideals,” says Melody.
“The fact that the mental health industrial complex, including academic institutions, refuse to respond to the traumas of Palestinians is on one hand, predicted (this is by colonial design) and on the other, is deeply cruel, hypocritical, and shameful,” she adds.
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How professional bodies position themselves matters and silence is a stance.
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)’s philosophy states a “desire for social justice determines everything we do”.
At the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, it released a solidarity statement acknowledging “devastating human tragedy” and that “people will be dealing with indescribable losses”.
A few weeks later, the BACP organised an emergency summit to contribute to “global peace and justice” and continued to share psychological support for practitioners and clients.
Yet, despite the death and destruction being exponentially greater than in Ukraine – The Lancet estimates life lost in the Gaza Strip at around 7-9% of the population – the BACP has remained silent.
"If mental health providers and therapists are not actively, vocally, and continually protesting against the genocide of Palestinians, we are complicit in upholding these structures of violence and are enacting harm"
A BACP spokesperson stated: “We’re committed to an inclusive, anti-racist stance that reflects the ethics and integrity that is at our professions’ heart.” When questioned about their rationale for ignoring Palestine, they declined to respond.
“The lack of recognition of… [Gaza’s] humanitarian perspective is causing anguish among individual providers… and in patient populations from various backgrounds – not only Muslims,” says Mansoor.
“I have Jewish patients who say they feel very torn about the situation when friends or family support it. We should provide avenues to express and process their feelings. We cannot shut down this internal debate around consciousness. This will only increase their internal distress,” Mansoor continues.
“It’s worth noting that many members of the Jewish medical community, as well as Israeli and human rights organisations, have been vocal in speaking up against the Gaza genocide. The inhumane Israeli actions are fuelling both Islamophobia and anti-semitism in the US, adding to psychological distress,” adds Mansoor.
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid a hunger crisis [Getty]Melody further emphasises the impact, “If mental health providers and therapists are not actively, vocally, and continually protesting against the genocide of Palestinians, we are complicit in upholding these structures of violence and are enacting harm.”
Mustafa Jayyousi, a Palestinian psychotherapist living in Norway, highlights another barrier to effective support: Western psychology’s emphasis on individualism over collective wellbeing, which he argues, often exacerbates the cultural disconnect and systemic ignorance faced by Palestinians.
“Telling people to switch off the news to look after themselves ignores or fails to realise the need or importance for some people to focus on the Palestinian cause,” he says.
Mustafa sees the gap between his Palestinian pain and the lack of care and attention from his peers as a cultural disconnect. “There’s no willingness to understand. It’s systemic ignorance for us Palestinians.”
When I ask Mustafa about the underlying factors, he highlights the influence of a strong Zionist narrative and the media’s role in failing to convey the truth. He adds: “European guilt for the Holocaust makes it harder for people to distinguish between Judaism as a religion and Zionism.”
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This detachment is echoed by Sheena Sood, a founding member of Yogis for Palestine, set up in 2021 to promote advocacy for Palestinian self-determination.
She notes a similar challenge in the yogic communities, “There’s this aspiration towards enlightenment but when it comes to politics or suffering the approach is reduced to neutrality or prayer without any material action. It becomes a kind of political apathy or inaction.”
Melody underscores the need for appropriate emotional support. “In these critical times, we need aligned spaces to grieve together, to process what we hold in our bodies… as the media and institutions continue to bombard us with propaganda and lies. We must allow ourselves to feel, or risk becoming numb, sick or disconnected.”
Alongside this, there is a strong call for accountability. “I’d like to see these professional bodies held accountable for denying and enabling genocide and colonial violence,” says Melody.
Ultimately, it’s about the sanctity of life and human rights, says Mansoor. “Sanctity of life is enshrined in the Hippocratic Oath and medical ethics, AMA medical ethics principle IX demands that physicians and medical organisations should support access to medical care for all people," he explains.
"Yet there is complete silence about the wanton destruction of healthcare infrastructure in Gaza and the intentional killing of thousands of medics. The lack of condemnation of medical war crimes in Gaza is even more astounding in the case of mental health organisations that claim to espouse the highest standards of professional ethics," Mansoor adds.
"By refusing to support the calls for a ceasefire, medical organisations have violated their basic ethical principles. If there is no safety there’s no health. Sanctity of life precludes any kind of health.”
For those seeking support in the UK, the UK Palestine Mental Health Network engages mental health professionals to take a stance against policies exacerbating the oppression of Palestinians; Healing Justice Ldn provides resources for movements that centre empathy and action and Thrive Ldn provides community-led support for Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities.
After all, no grief should be sidelined.
Yanar Alkayat is a health and fitness content editor for magazines such as Women's Health, Runner's World, and Men's Health. She is also a registered Yoga Therapist
Follow her on Instagram: @yanarfitness
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