Building bridges with folk healing providers: Recommendations for mental health research and practice with Latino immigrants

This presentation addresses the results of an ethnographic study based on participant observation in botánicas (religious-healing establishments) and in-depth interviews held with fifty-six Latino folk healers in New York City. In particular, it will examine the main lessons learned from healers' conceptualizations of mental health syndromes and the treatments most commonly prescribed to their immigrant clientele. The importance of “social depression” (versus clinical depression) and the emphasis on verbal therapy as healers' main therapeutic tool, are two of the main issues that will be addressed. Most healers do not consider “social depression” as an illness, but as a syndrome or a disruption in Latino immigrants' emotional life as the result of multiple post-migratory hurdles. Finally, this presentation will explore the fears, misconceptions and distrust that many folk healers experience towards mainstream health professionals, and the need to create “bridges” between practitioners from different disciplines. In sum, clinical understanding of alternative conceptualizations of mental health problems could help facilitate rapport, build trust and help Latino immigrants (as well as their families), explore their own beliefs and subjective perceptions regarding their sources of suffering. Health professionals could also benefit from the gatekeeper role played by folk practitioners among vulnerable and uninsured populations. In the end, they could join forces with folk healers in channeling the needs of Latino immigrant, by developing collaborations in mental health prevention and treatment initiatives.