What Occupation Does to the Soul: Samah Jabr, Gabor Maté, Jennifer Mullan, Facilitated by Jess Ghannam
Sounds of SANDShow Notes
Global Reverberations of Palestinian Historical Trauma: A SAND Community Gathering with Dr. Samah Jabr, Dr. Gabor Maté & Dr. Jennifer Mullan, facilitated by Dr. Jess Ghannam
Join us for a conversation marking the book launch of Radiance and Pain in Resilience, a powerful collection of essays by Palestinian psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and internationally respected mental health advocate Dr. Samah Jabr.
We are gathering in the midst of genocide. The massive, deliberate traumatization of an entire people, cheered, funded, and shielded from accountability by Western governments, is unfolding in real time. As Israel’s assault on Gaza continues to annihilate bodies, families, and entire lineages, this conversation refuses to look away. It asks what it is to tend to the psyche under conditions of systematic destruction.
Drawing on decades of clinical practice, political analysis, and lived experience under occupation, Dr. Jabr examines the psychological consequences of colonization, displacement, and historical trauma on the Palestinian people. Through personal reflections, case studies, and cultural critique, she challenges dominant Western paradigms of mental health and offers a decolonial, psycho-spiritual framework rooted in dignity, collective care, resistance, and truth.
Proceeds from this conversation go directly to Project Hope Palestine, supporting 500 orphaned children living at Al-Baraka orphan camp in Gaza.
Guests
Dr. Samah Jabr is a psychiatrist practicing in Palestine, serving communities in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. She was formerly Head of the Mental Health Unit within the Palestinian Ministry of Health and is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University. She is the author of several books including Behind the Frontlines, Sumud, Sumud in Times of Genocide, and most recently Radiance in Pain and Resilience: The Global Reverberations of Palestinian Historical Trauma.
Dr. Gabor Maté is a physician, trauma expert, and bestselling author of The Myth of Normal, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, and When the Body Says No.
Dr. Jennifer Mullan is a clinical psychologist and the author of the national bestseller Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice. She is the founder of Decolonizing Therapy®.
Dr. Jess Ghannam (facilitator) is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Global Health Sciences at UCSF.
Timestamps
00:00 — Welcome & introductions
00:04 — Dr. Jabr's path into psychiatry and writing
00:06 — Dr. Maté's journey from Zionism to Palestine solidarity
00:10 — Dr. Mullan's path & the political nature of the body
00:17 — Why PTSD doesn't capture the Palestinian experience
00:22 — The DSM, pain, and what diagnosis fails to explain
00:30 — Colonial trauma: cumulative, collective, and intentional
00:33 — Collective healing circles over individual diagnosis
00:39 — Rethinking the role of the mental health worker
00:43 — The colonial roots of Western therapy models
00:50 — Fratricide, domestic violence & the fabricated "lesser nation"
00:55 — Closing reflections: existence as resistance
Resources & Links
Dr. Samah Jabr
Radiance in Pain and Resilience: The Global Reverberations of Palestinian Historical Trauma — Dr. Jabr's book
Decolonial Mental Health Practices: Clinical and Ethical Insights From Palestine — Part 2, four-part course starting Hosted By SAND (Starting July 5, 2026)
Dr. Gabor Maté
The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture
Dr. Jennifer Mullan
Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice
Center for Decolonizing Therapy®
Support
Project Hope Palestine — supporting 500 orphaned children at Al-Baraka orphan camp in Gaza; proceeds from this event go directly here
Thinkers referenced in the conversation
Frantz Fanon — referenced by Dr. Jabr in her theorization of colonial trauma
Dr. Kenneth Hardy — Black psychologist re
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