Shamanic Healing for Veterans with PTSD: A Case Series
Abstract
Context Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious health concern. Current evidence-based treatments for PTSD are efficacious; however, they are not appropriate or tolerated by everyone who needs them. Alternative treatment approaches are needed. Shamanic healing is one such therapy that may potentially be beneficial but no systematic research has been conducted on it for PTSD. Objective The objectives of the case series are to (1) develop a structured replicable shamanic treatment plan for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); (2) collect preliminary data on PTSD-related outcomes, and (3) explore the feasibility and potential for adverse events of the plan. Design Case series. Setting Clinical. Patients or other participants Veterans with PTSD. Intervention Shamanic healing. Main outcome measure(s) PTSD symptoms, quality of life, and piritual wellness. Results A semi-structured shamanic healing protocol was created with the following components: rapport building, power animal retrieval, extraction, compassionate spirit release, curse unraveling, soul retrieval, forgiveness/cord-cutting, aspect maturing/soul rematrixing, and divination. Six veterans enrolled in the study (mean age = 49.3 ± 13.1). Qualitative descriptions of the participants, their histories, and effects from the intervention are reported. Preliminary data was collected on PTSD-related outcomes. The protocol was found feasible and acceptable and recommendations for its future use are suggested. Future research is warranted and needed to evaluate the efficacy of shamanic healing as a potential therapy for veterans with PTSD.
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Studies reported a modification of perception and awareness of the body during shamanic trance (N = 15, N = 4).
“a modification of perception and awareness of the body (e.g., mental imagery, sensation of floating, communication with entities, reliving traumatic experiences from a new perspective/better understanding of life/disease) (N = 15, N = 4) [15, 19, 74]”
From Scoping review on shamanistic trances practices (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
After shamanic intervention, PTSD symptoms decreased in all participants but one.
“After the intervention, PTSD symptoms decreased in all participants but one”
From Scoping review on shamanistic trances practices (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
After shamanic intervention, an improvement in quality of life was observed in all patients.
“an improvement in quality of life was observed in all patients.”
From Scoping review on shamanistic trances practices (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
Cites
Loving‐Kindness Meditation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study
Kearney, D. J., Malte, C. A., McManus, C., Martinez, M. E., Felleman, B., & Simpson, T. L. (2013) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.21832 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
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Scoping review on shamanistic trances practices
Marie, N., Lafon, Y., Bicego, A., Grégoire, C., Rousseaux, F., Bioy, A., Vanhaudenhuyse, A., & Gosseries, O. (2024) · BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies · doi:10.1186/s12906-024-04678-w · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Wahbeh and colleagues [19] published a case series in which 8 sessions of shamanic therapy were proposed by 12 expert shamanic practitioners for 15 to 20 weeks to veterans ( N = 6) with PTSD. Shamanic healing methods were derived from core shamanic principles taught by the Foundation for Shamanic…”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
- Authors
- Wahbeh, H., Shainsky, L., Weaver, A., & Engels-Smith, J.
- Affiliations
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wahbeh, Helané
- ORCID
- Wahbeh, Helané
- Venue
- EXPLORE
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-05
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 207-217
- ISSN
- 1550-8307 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2589328696
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 1.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- EXPLORE (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- shamanic healing, post-traumatic stress disorder, veterans, complementary and alternative medicine, divination, forgiveness, quality of life, treatment feasibility, adverse events
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Quality of Life, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Veterans, Treatment Outcome, Shamanism, Spirituality
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