Ethnic Health Initiative Conference Mental Health and Spirit Possession March 2015

1. A Pragmatic Approach to the Integration of Education, Research and Clinical Practice in the Treatment of Spirit Possession Ethnic Health Initiative Conference Mental Health and Spirit Possession March 2015 Terence Palmer PhD

2. Imperatives • Protection of children from abuse and misguided faith • Protection from charlatans and exploiters of all vulnerable sufferers of spirit possession • Application of appropriate methods of intervention • Identify best practice (research) • Teach best practice (education and training) • Apply best practice (clinical intervention) • Register of approved interventionists

3. Initiatives • Stobart, E. 2006 Child Abuse Linked to Accusations of Possession and Witchcraft. Dept of Education and Skills: HMSO. • http://www.eleanorstobart.co.uk/recent-publications/ • National action plan to tackle child abuse linked to faith or belief 2011 – 2012 • https://www.gov.uk/government/news/action-plan-to-stop-child-abuse-in-the-name-of-faith-or-belief

4. Stobart’s recommendations (2006) • Establish a central record of cases • Early intervention • Reporting cases • Liaison between agencies • Confidentiality and information sharing • Risk factors • Practice guidance (includes how to handle cases)

5. National action plan to tackle child abuse linked to faith or beliefSummary of Actions • Engaging communities • Empowering practitioners • Supporting victims and witnesses • Communicating key messages

6. National action plan to tackle child abuse linked to faith or beliefWebsites of Working Group member organisations • AFRUCA www.afruca.org Africans Unite Against Child Abuse • ADCS www.adcs.org.uk Association of Directors of Children's Services Ltd • CAADA www.caada.org.uk Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse • CFAB www.cfab.uk.net Children and families Across Borders • CCPAS www.ccpas.co.uk Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service (Christian)

7. National action plan to tackle child abuse linked to faith or beliefWebsites of Working Group member organisations • Churches Together in England www.cte.org.uk • The Department for Education www.education.gov.uk • The Congolese Family Centre (No website found) • The Home Office www.homeoffice.gov.uk • The London SCB www.londonscb.gov.uk London Safeguarding Children Board • The Metropolitan Police http://content.met.police.uk/Home

8. National action plan to tackle child abuse linked to faith or beliefWebsites of Working Group member organisations • The NSPCC www.nspcc.org.uk • The Peace Alliance (No website found) • Peace International www.peaceinternational.org.uk • Trust for London www.trustforlondon.org.uk • The Victoria Climbié Foundation www.vcf-uk.org

9. London Culture & Faith Training Toolkit • Training Toolkit for professionals engaging with minority ethnic culture and faith (often socially excluded) communities, groups and families to safeguard their children • ‘Keeping the child in focus means seeing beyond his or her faith and/or culture’ • ‘What parents do is more important than who they are… the right kind of parenting is a bigger influence on a child’s future than faith, culture (wealth, class, education) or any other common social factor’ • www.londonscb.gov.uk

10. How Can EHI Help? Join the membership of the Government’s working group Apply evidence-based best practice in the treatment of suspected spirit possession Identify trends and demographic data Raise awareness, education & training through workshops, seminars and conferences

11. Integration for best practice

12. Pragmatic integration

13. The process • Every patient/client is a person and a source of research data • Keep a record of: • Base-line data • Type of intervention • Post-intervention outcome • Is there a difference? Did it work? • Share the result with others

14. Base-line data • Demographics • Age, gender, ethnicity, country of origin, religion • Family structure • Referral from? Self, doctor, priest, family, social service • Medical/psychiatric diagnosis • Psychometric test results

15. Intervention classification • Religious (prayer, exorcism, deliverance) • Medical/psychiatric (pharmacology) • Psychodynamic (Freudian, Jungian, etc) • CBT, RET • Mindfulness, hypnotherapy or NLP • Energy healing (laying on hands, Reiki) • Spirit release therapy (SRT) • Remote spirit release therapy (RSRT) • Spiritist methods

16. Post-intervention outcome • Psychometric 2nd measure • Alleviation of symptoms • Quality of life • Number and duration of sessions • Uncovered cause • Follow-up

17. Project participants • Local religious institutions • Therapy clinics • Independent practitioners • GPs & psychiatrists

18. Data collation

19. Project management • Ethnic health initiative co-ordinator –and: • University research department, or: • Psychiatric institution, or: • Medical school

20. What’s it all for? • In suspected spirit possession what interventions work for best practice? • To protect vulnerable communities from charlatans • To protect children from abuse resulting from false beliefs and inappropriate interventions • To identify trends in reported cases by culture, ethnicity, country of origin and religious belief • A register of approved interventionists?

21. What to do next • Invite participating practitioners and clinics to form a project group • Appoint a project manager • Invite a university to collate and interpret data • Establish an educational programme to share results and train for best practice

22. Essential reading

23. Thank you for listening • Keep in touch: • http://www.tjpalmer.org/research/research-proposals/ • palmert55@gmail.com • Any questions?