Keynote Address: Sick or Gifted? Bridging the Connection Between Mental Health Issues and Spirituality
Gogo Ekhaya Esima
ISPS-US 16th Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon 2017

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Gogo Ekhaya Esima is not only a Mental Health Recovery Specialist, but a traditional South African healer (Sangoma), as well. Her own experience with mental illness, and her at times frightening, at times profoundly beautiful journey through it eventually led her deeply into traditional African spirituality. This gives her the unique perspective she shares. Through this expanded view, symptoms of mental illness are seen from the wider context in which they have long been perceived by many indigenous cultures. They are re-framed as evidence of a solvable problem or an indication of an individual’s gifts, instead of the sentence of a more permanent diagnosis. Gogo Ekhaya Esima explains how Sangomas determine whether a person with "psychosis" is experiencing a shamanic calling, bothersome spirits, or an ancestral dilemma, as well as what types of ceremonies, rituals, and medicine are prescribed for healing in each case. She addresses the importance of ancestors, a supportive community, and other integral aspects of traditional African life and specifically the healing process, as well as how this can be applied to work in mental health in the U.S.

Copyright ISPS-US 2017