Abstract
SYNOPSISThe Conference on Spirit Possession and Mental Health, organized by the Ethnic Health Initiative in London, September 2013, introduced the dilemma of the practitioner of Western medicine, faced with a predominantly ethnic-minority client group with a culturally and religiously sanctioned attribution of certain mental health difficulties to possession by spirits (or Jinns in Islamic terminology). Working with traditional healers is a possible solution, but is complicated by the heterogeneity and lack of regulation of this body. By questioning the assumptions behind the Western scientific world-view regarding the impermeability of the human mind, this paper presents a model of the human being that can accommodate the reality of extraneous invasion. Based on the Interacting Cognitive Subsystems model of cognitive architecture (Teasdale and Barnard, 1995), it is possible to argue that we have the capacity in certain susceptible states of mind to step away from our individuality into such a place of vulnerability. Schizotypy research (Claridge, 1997) has explored this potential. A therapeutic approach that honours the individual's experience, based on this re-conceptualization, is presented.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
