Title:
Becoming a Xhosa traditional healer: The calling, illness, conflict and belonging
Authors:
Alberta S.J. van der Watt, Sarah V. Biederman, Jibril O. Abdulmalik, Irene Mbanga, Pricilla Das-Brailsford & Soraya Seedat
Published:
South African Journal of Psychiatry, Volume 27, a1528 (Published online: 4 March 2021)
From the abstract:
Background:
Traditional healers (THs) are an important part of the healthcare system in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding their training, experiences of becoming healers and their perceived roles in society is critical.
Aim:
This study aimed to explore the experience of becoming a TH, including accepting the calling, and sheds light on how the experience is conceptualised within the cultural and communitarian context of THs.
Setting:
This study was conducted amongst Xhosa THs in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Methods:
In-depth phenomenological interviews (n = 4) were conducted with Xhosa THs and analysed using Giorgi’s descriptive pre-transcendental Husserlian phenomenological analysis.