A psychiatrist in training encounters a traditional healer.
The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa January 1, 2025 Raksha Singh, Pierre M Joubert
Traditional healers and psychiatrists in training follow the same basic steps when evaluating and treating a mental health patient, but the details of those steps differ greatly due to opposing worldviews. In a South African hospital ward, a traditional healer and a psychiatry trainee assessed the same inpatient. The psychiatrist used an evidence-based, naturalistic model, while the traditional healer operated from a transcendent model. Two previously unreported practices in South African traditional healing were observed: the use of a doll (effigy) and calling on angels. These differences reflect fundamentally different understandings of mental illness.