From resilience to sumud: rethinking psychotherapy beyond individual recovery in contexts of enduring adversity
Abstract
Mental health care in the context of chronic conflict, adversity, displacement, and violence is often informed by models that emphasise individual resilience and recovery towards a prior state of equilibrium. While valuable in many settings, such models may be insufficient in contexts where suffering is continuously shaped by chronic adversities, displacement and structural violence, requiring approaches that prioritise identity, dignity and collective endurance alongside recovery. A recent systematic review of mental health interventions in conflict-affected Palestinian communities identified that the current evidence base is dominated by cognitive behavioural approaches, with a paucity of research evaluating culturally grounded interventions. In this Personal View, we present a conceptual framework that draws on the Arabic concept of sumud—steadfast, collective endurance. We distinguish sumud from the conventional notion of resilience, examining its implications for psychotherapy and cultural psychiatry and its relevance to clinical practice and policy. We argue that psychiatrists and other mental health professionals should work with families, schools, and community structures to strengthen psychological continuity through recognition of the historical, political, cultural and social conditions that shape both suffering and the possibilities for care, rather than focusing solely on individual symptom reduction.
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BibTeX
@article{elgabry2026from,
title = {{From resilience to sumud: rethinking psychotherapy beyond individual recovery in contexts of enduring adversity}},
author = {Dina Aly El-Gabry and Iffat Elbarazi and Emmanuel Stip and Tarek Okasha and Nadia Taysir Al Dabbagh and Nicola Gray and Didier Jourdan},
journal = {The Lancet Regional Health - Eastern Mediterranean},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.laneme.2026.100004},
url = {https://uca.hal.science/hal-05785914v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - From resilience to sumud: rethinking psychotherapy beyond individual recovery in contexts of enduring adversity
AU - Dina Aly El-Gabry
AU - Iffat Elbarazi
AU - Emmanuel Stip
AU - Tarek Okasha
AU - Nadia Taysir Al Dabbagh
AU - Nicola Gray
AU - Didier Jourdan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - The Lancet Regional Health - Eastern Mediterranean
DO - 10.1016/j.laneme.2026.100004
UR - https://uca.hal.science/hal-05785914v1
AB - Mental health care in the context of chronic conflict, adversity, displacement, and violence is often informed by models that emphasise individual resilience and recovery towards a prior state of equilibrium. While valuable in many settings, such models may be insufficient in contexts where suffering is continuously shaped by chronic adversities, displacement and structural violence, requiring approaches that prioritise identity, dignity and collective endurance alongside recovery. A recent systematic review of mental health interventions in conflict-affected Palestinian communities identified that the current evidence base is dominated by cognitive behavioural approaches, with a paucity of research evaluating culturally grounded interventions. In this Personal View, we present a conceptual framework that draws on the Arabic concept of sumud—steadfast, collective endurance. We distinguish sumud from the conventional notion of resilience, examining its implications for psychotherapy and cultural psychiatry and its relevance to clinical practice and policy. We argue that psychiatrists and other mental health professionals should work with families, schools, and community structures to strengthen psychological continuity through recognition of the historical, political, cultural and social conditions that shape both suffering and the possibilities for care, rather than focusing solely on individual symptom reduction.
SN - 3050-5054
SN - 3050-5054
ER -