Bridging religion, spirituality and mental health care
Exploring the role of religion and spirituality in mental health care through anthropology, research and global collaboration
Dr Bhrigupati Singh, Reader in Anthropology at CAMHRA, and Dr Swayam Bagaria, Assistant Professor of Hindu Studies at Harvard Divinity School, have been awarded a $1.2 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to develop Ethnos MH, a new global training programme on the anthropology of mental health and religion.
Based in London, Boston and New Delhi, the project will bring together anthropologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health practitioners to explore how religious and spiritual practices shape experiences of distress, recovery and wellbeing across diverse cultural contexts.
In this conversation, Bhrigupati and Swayam discuss the motivations behind the project and the challenges it seeks to address. They reflect on the risks of overlooking religion and spirituality in mental health care, from misrecognising people’s experiences to missing important sources of meaning, support and recovery. Drawing on anthropology’s attention to lived experience, Ethnos MH aims to equip practitioners with new ways of engaging with the realities of patients’ lives, fostering a more nuanced, culturally informed and person-centred approach to mental health care around the world.
The conversation also includes footage from a panel discussion featuring Professor Christopher Cook of Durham University, offering further perspectives on the role of religion and spirituality in mental health care.