Hisham Nsier

Clinical Psychology

Advisor: Will Beischel, Ph.D.
Lab: Exploring QUeer And Trans Experience (EQUATE) Lab

Thesis/Dissertation

Thesis title:

"Being an Arab is like fighting for your joy": Exploring bicultural identity, racialization, and psychological well-being among US-born Arab Americans

Thesis abstract:

Bicultural identity development in Arab Americans, who must manage sometimes conflicting cultural expectations, is understudied. Even less is known about Arab Americans born in the United States (US-born AA), who are American by birth yet are alienated from society due to differences between their ‘white’ racialization and their cultural identities. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between bicultural identity, racialization, and psychological well-being at the intersection of US-born AA’s co-existing identities. Eight adult US-born AAs (Mage = 28 years, SD = 4) were recruited from professional Listservs and WhatsApp affinity groups. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using intersectional and interpretative phenomenological analytic theories of knowledge. Study participants viewed themselves as misperceived by American society, felt erased by existing racial classification systems, and were hypervigilant due to safety concerns. They described cultural value(s) as protective against the negative psychological consequences of discrimination and leveraged their ethnocultural visibility to find community. Findings illustrate the complexity of holding multiple ethnic identities, providing important context for how participants make sense of, and embody, their bicultural identity. Psychological interventions tailored to this population may benefit from strategies aimed at increasing bicultural identity integration.

Education

B.S. Psychology: University of Colorado - Denver

Research Interests

I have two main interests: 1) psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and 2) identity formation and meaning making in American Middle Eastern and North Africans (AMENA). My research focuses on the relationship between AMENA folks' intersecting identities and their psychological well-being. Clinically, I focus on the development of psychological interventions that are tailored for communities historically (and currently) resisting neo-colonialism and occupation.

Awards

Award for Research Exemplifying the Rule of Law (2025, April), Rule of Law Institute, Loyola University Chicago.

Graduate Student Research Grant (2024, December), American Middle Eastern and North African Psychological Association.