In Brazil, during the XX century, dozens of Spiritist
psychiatric hospitals emerged seeking to integrate conventional medical
treatment with complementary spiritual therapy. This combined inpatient
treatment is largely found in Brazil, where many psychiatric hospitals
stem from the Spiritist movement.
The present report describes the use of these spiritual practices,
their operating structure, health professionals involved, modalities
of care, and institutional difficulties in integrating spiritual practices
with conventional treatment in six leading Brazilian Spiritist psychiatric
hospitals. These hospitals combine conventional psychiatric treatment
with voluntary-based spiritual approaches such as laying on of hands
(‘‘fluidotherapy’’), lectures regarding spiritual
and ethical issues, intercessory prayer, spirit release therapy (‘‘disobsession’’)
and ‘‘fraternal dialogue’’. The non-indoctrination
and optional nature of these spiritual complementary therapies seem
to increase acceptance among patients and their family members. In
conclusion, the Spiritist psychiatric hospitals in Brazil have, for
more than half a century, provided an integrative approach in the
treatment of psychiatric disorders, associating conventional and spiritual
treatments, more specifically Spiritist therapy. The lack of standardized
treatment protocols and scientific studies remain a barrier to assessing
the impact of this integrative approach on patients’ mental
health, quality of life, adherence, and perceived quality of treatment.
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