American Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Psychological Association

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The American Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Psychological Association (AMENA-Psy) is hosting our 7th Annual AMENA-Psy Conference

in Washington, D.C. on August 8-9.

We invite AMENA-Psy members and non-members to join us! The theme of this year's conference is:

Resistance through Psychological Scholarship and Practice: Advancing Policy Reform, Community Well-Being, and Justice for MENA Communities

With the official implementation of the MENA federal category and the simultaneous rise in global and domestic crises, our work has never been more political. We recognize that for too long, psychological scholarship and practice have been used as tools to pathologize, surveil, and harm our communities. We are taking back our power.


In the heart of the nation's capital, we assert that the very same scholarship and practice once used against us will now be the engine of our collective power. Our 2026 gathering serves as a strategic intervention, transforming the lab, the classroom, and the therapy room into sites of resistance and possibility.


We invite submissions that bridge the gap between discovery and action. Whether you are presenting an empirical study, a clinical case, or a developed policy brief, we explicitly encourage presenters to consider the broader policy implications of their work for community well-being and justice. Our goal is to foster a space where all members can see their expertise as a vital contribution to our collective agency, leveraging our scholarship and practice to dismantle systemic harm, inform legislative reform, and secure a future defined by well-being, empowerment, and justice for all MENA communities.


We will be accepting:

  • Poster Presentations
  • Single Submitter Paper Presentations
  • Symposia Proposals
  • Critical Conversations
  • Workshops

We invite seasoned researchers and clinicians, as well as early career professionals, students, activists, and artists to submit material whether fully developed, in-progress or in early stages of creation.

We encourage individuals from all fields of psychology, including educational/school, social, health, developmental, community, I/O, counseling, clinical, international, and beyond, to submit proposals. Submissions from multidisciplinary, international, and student scholars are welcome!

Possible Topics May Include

1. Policy Reform: Taking Back Control of the Data

  • From Surveillance to Visibility: Utilizing the new federal MENA category to demand equitable resources while resisting the historical use of data for state monitoring.
  • The Science of Legislative Advocacy: Best practices for using empirical data to hold the state accountable through congressional briefings and civil rights advocacy.
  • Community-Based Participatory Research: Community-engaged scholarship that positions MENA community members as co-researchers and authorities on their own experiences.


2. Community Well-Being: Scholarship and Practice as a Shield

  • Dismantling the Surveillance State: Scholarship that investigates and exposes the psychological damage caused by state securitization and counter-terrorism policies.

  • Evidence-Based Resistance: Empirical evaluations of policy-level protections against systemic bias in healthcare, education, and labor.

  • Institutional Accountability: Advancing structural reform within clinical spaces and universities to protect MENA providers, patients, and students.
  • Joy as Resistance: Research and practice that center joy as resistance for MENA populations.

 


3. Justice: Clinical & Structural Advocacy

  • Clinical Scholarship as Expert Evidence: Reclaiming clinical insight to provide evidence for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers and those fighting civil rights violations in the courts.
  • Foreign Policy as a Structural Determinant: Analyzing how the technologies of war and U.S. foreign policy act as primary drivers of diaspora mental health disparities.
  • Building the Arab/MENA Psychology Pipeline: Strategic scholarship aimed at fostering the pipeline of MENA researchers and practitioners who are on the front lines of protecting and uplifting community wellbeing.


4. Reclaiming the Canon: Scholarship and Practice as Resistance

  • Decentering the Colonial Lens: Research and clinical practice that explicitly rejects psychological frameworks historically used to marginalize or "other" Arab/MENA communities.
  • Decolonial Clinical Praxis: Sessions on therapeutic approaches that move beyond Western-centric models to center indigenous healing, collective liberation, and cultural strength and resiliency.
  • Scholar-Advocate Integration: Exploring the journey of using both empirical research and clinical insight to fight for Arab/MENA community protection, mental health equity, and justice.
  • Collaborative Resistance: Highlighting partnerships where psychological science and decolonial practice are integrated into legal, community, and legislative resistance movements.


    Important Dates

    • Submission Portal Opens: Friday, May 1st, 2026
    • Deadline for proposal submission: Friday, May 22, 2026 (SUBMISSIONS NO LONGER ACCEPTED)
    • Response to submission: Mid June 2026
    • Conference Dates: Saturday, August 8, 2026 - Sunday, August 9, 2026

     

    Check back for updates and more!

     

    Conference Co-Chairs:

    Zeinab A. Hachem, Ph.D.


    Emily El-Oqlah, Ph.D.

    Photo coming soon!

    Programming Chair: Zeinab A. Hachem, Ph.D.

    Questions: amenapsyconference@gmail.com