Traditional African Healing Ceremony in a U.S. Population
| Status: | Completed |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Anxiety, Cancer, Cancer, Depression, Neurology |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Neurology, Oncology, Psychiatry / Psychology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 25 - 65 |
| Updated: | 11/8/2014 |
| Start Date: | February 2014 |
| End Date: | May 2014 |
| Contact: | Kenneth Wilson, MD |
| Email: | wilso003@mc.duke.edu |
| Phone: | 919-684-5878 |
Pre-agricultural societies almost universally used healing ceremonies that involved
reverence, rhythm and dance in the presence of a healer. It is believed that we are "wired"
for such experiences and they foster an integrative mode of consciousness similar to that of
mindfulness based stress reduction, which has been shown to have therapeutic effects in a
variety of conditions. Collaborator Ava Lavonne Vinesett of the Duke Dance Program has
developed a healing ceremony based in sub-Saharan African traditions. The investigators plan
is to have 25 subjects with a variety of clinical conditions participate in this ceremony.
Subjects will then be asked to write a commentary about their experience and to participate
in a focus group discussion. It is anticipated that the study will give us some idea of how
promising this approach would be and what kinds of patients might benefit. Safety issues
are minimal and include the possibility of injury (though the dancing is not strenuous) and
psychological distress.
reverence, rhythm and dance in the presence of a healer. It is believed that we are "wired"
for such experiences and they foster an integrative mode of consciousness similar to that of
mindfulness based stress reduction, which has been shown to have therapeutic effects in a
variety of conditions. Collaborator Ava Lavonne Vinesett of the Duke Dance Program has
developed a healing ceremony based in sub-Saharan African traditions. The investigators plan
is to have 25 subjects with a variety of clinical conditions participate in this ceremony.
Subjects will then be asked to write a commentary about their experience and to participate
in a focus group discussion. It is anticipated that the study will give us some idea of how
promising this approach would be and what kinds of patients might benefit. Safety issues
are minimal and include the possibility of injury (though the dancing is not strenuous) and
psychological distress.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age 25 to 65 with one of the diagnoses listed above or with 8 visits to their
provider in the last year and with no diagnosis of chronic illness.
Exclusion Criteria:
- physical disability making participation difficult and previous experience with a
similar ceremony, for instance while growing up in Africa.
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