Page 193 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience
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162 Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilence
those affected by the Tsunami may react poorly to alien approaches …
external (as well as internal) groups must always pay careful attention to
local cultures, religions, and traditional ways of coping with incidents,
such as the tsunami.”
3. “Traditional healers are culturally and linguistically similar to their cli-
ents, share the cosmology of their clients, and generally have a holistic
approach to healing especially useful to conflict-affected populations
who may suffer a variety of traumatic impacts and symptoms, including
emotional, psychological, physical/somatic, social, and spiritual ones”
(de Jong, 2007, p. 217).
4. “From a public health perspective, traditional healers often have the
advantage that they are easily accessible from a cultural and geographic
point of view” (de Jong, 2007, p. 217).
There is great scope for IPR appropriately applied (i.e., ethnomedi-
cally competent) spiritual care and preexisting rituals retooled (or retra-
ditioned) to fit disaster contexts. As the primary mechanism (under the
United Nations’ resolutions 46/182 and 48/57) for interagency coordina-
tion of humanitarian assistance, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee
(IASC) has laid out important guidelines for psychosocial best practices:
Box 4: thE iasC’s guidElinEs on mEntal hEalth and
psyChosoCial support in EmErgEnCy sEttings
Encourages relief workers to interface with appropriate spiritual practices
and local healers. Relevant warnings and recommendations from IASC’s
Guidelines include:
1. Engaging with local religion or culture often challenges nonlocal relief
workers to consider world views very different from their own. Because
some local practices cause harm (for example, in contexts where spiritu-
ality and religion are politicized), humanitarian workers should think
critically and support local practices and resources only if they fit with
international standards of human rights. (IASC, 2007, Action Sheet 5.3)
2. Ignoring such healing practices, on the other hand, can prolong distress
and potentially cause harm by marginalizing helpful cultural ways of
coping. In many contexts, working with religious leaders and resources
is an essential part of emergency psychosocial support. (IASC, 2007,
Action Sheet 5.3)
3. Blending therapies in order to arrive at ethnomedically competent inte-
grative psychosocial resilience is encouraged in Action Sheet 5.3 as well: