Traditional healing and mental health in SA

In South Africa, traditional healing sits alongside clinical mental health care as a meaningful part of many people's healing journeys.

What's happening

Traditional healers - sangomas, izinyanga and other practitioners - are a significant and respected part of the health landscape for many South Africans, including for emotional and psychological difficulties. Traditional healing often understands distress through ancestral, spiritual and communal frameworks, quite different from Western clinical models. Both traditional and professional mental health approaches can offer real value, and many members move between the two, or use them together. Respecting this choice, rather than dismissing it, is part of good, culturally responsive care.

Signs to notice

• Consulting a traditional healer for symptoms that could also be understood in clinical terms - low mood, anxiety, sleep disturbance, unusual experiences.
• Feeling more understood or comforted by a traditional explanation of distress than a clinical one, or vice versa.
• Family or community encouraging traditional healing as a first step for emotional difficulties.
• Uncertainty or conflict about which path to follow, or pressure to choose only one approach.
• Symptoms continuing or worsening despite traditional treatment, without clinical support also being sought.

What helps

• You don't have to choose only one path. Many people find it helpful to draw on both traditional and professional support, in a way that fits their own beliefs.
• If you're consulting a traditional healer, it can help to also be honest with a mental health professional about this, so they can support you fully.
• If certain symptoms are severe, worsening, or involve safety concerns, professional mental health assessment is important alongside any traditional treatment.
• Trust your own understanding of what feels right for you and your family, while staying open to additional support if things aren't improving.
• If you're a family member, respect the person's choice of healing path while gently encouraging them to seek further help if symptoms are serious or persistent.

When to reach out for help

If symptoms are severe - such as significant changes in behaviour, an inability to function day to day, or thoughts of self-harm - a professional mental health assessment is important, alongside whatever traditional support you're also drawing on. A professional can work respectfully alongside your beliefs rather than replacing them.

Getting help in South Africa

Cleared Mind's EAP counsellors respect members' choices around traditional healing and can work alongside this as part of a holistic support plan. SADAG's Mental Health Line (011 234 4837) can also help connect you to further, culturally responsive support.