Muhammad Asir Ajmal

Muhammad Asir Ajmal (born January 31, 1962) is the most popular Psychologist in Pakistan. He is hailed as a champion of Sufi Psychology and indigenous theory building. Dr. Asir Ajmal is Professor as well as Director of Psychology Programs at Lahore School of Management, University of Lahore.[1] He is the son of Muhammad Ajmal, the founder of Psychology as an academic discipline in Pakistan and has held his father’s chairpersonship[1] at Government College University, Lahore, Psychology Department. Asir Ajmal is an alumnus of Government College, Lahore and Dartmouth College, USA,[2] and a trained clinical psychologist from NHS, UK.[2] He has taught in various institutions in Pakistan and established departments of psychology in multiple universities. He is best known for developing indigenous perspective in Psychology and initiating qualitative psychological research in Pakistan.

Education

Dr. Asir Ajmal has a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA (1994).[3] He obtained his master's degree in Psychology in 1984 from Government College, Lahore with a gold medal and roll of honor. During student life, he was active in dramatics and music. He completed post-doctoral work at Teachers College of Columbia University in 1998. In 1999, he went to Britain where he received Statement of Equivalence in Clinical Psychology (2002) and membership of the clinical division of the British Psychological Society.

Career

Asir Ajmal’s career began in Dartmouth College where he worked as teaching assistant from 1985 to 1989 during his doctorate. He spent a year in Nicaragua in 1990, volunteering as a psychologist on a cooperative for mentally retarded adults. He worked as a journalist for The News International and the Muslim (1991 – 1994) while working on his dissertation which he completed in 1994. After nearly a year at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad under the great visionary Dr Tariq Banuri, and a brief stint at UPI, he joined Ali Institute of Education (AIE) in 1996 under the equally visionary and great educationist Dr Hamid Kizilbash. Under Dr Kizilbash’s leadership, he served as head of in-service teacher training program funded by UNDP and conducted teacher training workshops all over rural Punjab and northern areas until 1999. In December 1999, he joined the National Health Service in UK as a clinical psychologist, where he also received on the job training, until 2006 before returning to Pakistan. He served for 7 years in Government College University Lahore as foreign professor. He was the chairperson of the Department of Psychology at GC University, Lahore from January, 2011 to January 2013. He has had various teaching and administrative positions during his career (Including Virtual University of Pakistan and University of Central Punjab). Currently he is working as Director of Psychology Programs at Lahore School of Management, University of Lahore. He also served as visiting faculty at Institute of Business Management, University of Engineering and Technology and Kinnaird College for Women Lahore. In addition, he is a certified leadership trainer and consultant at Franklin Covey Pakistan since May 2014 and runs a private practice and consultancy alongside. Dr. Ajmal is a vibrant presence in the field of Psychology in Pakistan. He has a huge student following and is revered for his charismatic style, his extensive knowledge and innovative approach. He is also admired by his colleagues for his academic standing, dynamism and commitment.

Affiliations

Dr. Asir Ajmal is currently the President of Society for Advancement of Muslim Psychology (SMP). He was the president of Pakistan Association of Clinical Psychologists (PACP) from April 2008 – 2010. He is an international affiliate of American Psychological Association and life member of Pakistan Psychological Association. In Britain, he held the membership of the Division of Clinical Psychology, British Psychological Society and was a founding member of the Institute of Psychotherapy and Disability (UK) since 2000.

Works

Ajmal has published more than 25 papers in international and HEC recognized journals to date.[4] He has several other miscellaneous publications.

Books

Book Chapter

Articles

Interests

Dr Asir Ajmal’s professional interests include Psychological Assessment, Psychotherapy, Corporate Training, Organizational Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Teacher Training, Clinical Psychology, Learning Disabilities, Qualitative Research and Forensic Psychology. He is passionate about learning languages and can fluently speak five languages including German, French and Spanish. He has functional knowledge of classical Arabic and Persian and has also studied Latin, Greek and Chinese. He is also interested in Comparative religion, modern and classical languages, music, anthropology, critical theory, poetry, indigenous models of psychology and psychotherapy, Sufism and mystical tradition, political psychology, information technology.

References

  1. 1 2 "Asir Ajmal, PhD | LinkedIn". pk.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
  2. 1 2 ".:.GC University Lahore". www.gcu.edu.pk. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
  3. ↑ Gerstein, L. H. (2009). International Handbook of Cross-Cultural Counseling: Cultural Assumptions and Practices Worldwide. California: Sage.
  4. ↑ https://scholar.google.com.pk/citations?user=svDm0pQAAAAJ&hl=en
  5. ↑ Sarfraz, A., Ajmal, M. A., (2012). Customer Service in Pakistan: A Qualitative Analysis of the Service Sector. Lambert
  6. ↑ Suhail, K., & Ajmal, M. A. (2009). Counseling in Pakistan: An Eastern Muslim perspective. In Gerstein et al (Eds.), International Handbook of Cross-Cultural Counseling: Cultural Assumptions and Practices Worldwide. California: Sage.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.