Ekhaya’s first ray of hope for recovery came when she found the peer-led mental health organization, Baltic Street, in New York. The second profound moment in her healing came when she met her mentor, a South African Sangoma and began her initiation and training in this age-old Shamanic tradition.
Not everyone who has a severe mental emotional crisis will undergo a shamanic initiation. Nonetheless, when we think about how the Shamans who had a ‘severe psychotic episode’ are treated we can clearly understand how this training helped Ekhaya.
First of all, as in Shamanic communities, Ekhaya’s experience was reframed from being the result of a diseased brain, which carries a stigmatized label, to a process that can lead to spiritual growth. Secondly, she had a Peer that could guide and comfort her – Ekhaya’s Sangoma had had a severe episode herself. And third, she was shown that her own crisis had given her potential as a healer, which gave her life meaning and a role in her community. It’s what most ‘people with lived experience’ are now advocating for – hope for recovery, peer support and not to be set apart with stigmatized labels.
Ekhaya has managed to successfully emerge from a series of extremely difficult life circumstances starting when she was five. She has candidly opened herself to our audience in the hope her story will help others. It has been an incredible gift to CRAZYWISE to have the opportunity to tell Ekhaya’s story and we are profoundly grateful to her.
