Une clinique sous occupation. Entretien avec Dr. Samah Jabr

Abstract

AimSamah Jabr is a Palestinian psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and the current head of the ministerial Mental Health Unit in the occupied West Bank. This article aims to make her work and the question of mental health in Palestine better known to the French-speaking readership interested in the links between psychiatry, war and colonial occupation. MethodThe present article is based on the transcript of an interview with Samah Jabr, conducted in January 2018 at the Psychology Department in Paris 13-Sorbonne Paris-Cité University. ResultsPracticing within an occupied nation requires the development of specific mental health policies and clinical tools. After an overview of her training, from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, Paris and London, this interview explores S. Jabr's institutional work, which has two broad aims: on the one hand, the development of mental health services in the Occupied Territories, and on the other, the dissemination of mental healthcare and its implantation within the Palestinian community. Throughout this interview, S. Jabr's clinical and theoretical perspectives are unfolded, with emphasis on a qualitative differentiation between demoralization, i.e. psychosocial suffering, and psychopathology. DiscussionThis interview explores the clinical and political practice of the author, whose work is in line with the legacy of Fanon. Via a holistic approach, the article broaches the subject of the treatment of adolescents following imprisonment, or of patients with reactive symptoms subsequent to torture; it also reflects on the effects of politically motivated humiliation, as well as on the difficulties of counter-transference when dealing with mechanisms of identification with the aggressor. ConclusionThe article ends with reflections on factors promoting the resilience of Palestinian society.