Synergism between Catholicism and Indigenous Spirituality within the Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Program of Takiwasi, a Therapeutic Community in the Peruvian High-Amazon

Abstract

The association between spirituality and medicine is unfolding as a research theme that may have increasing practical implications in healthcare systems. Both spiritual and scientific dimensions are present within the treatment protocol for addiction applied at the Takiwasi Center, a pioneer therapeutic community that combines western approaches, including psychotherapy, biomedicine, and Catholic practices, with traditional Amazonian medicine. Through a series of open-ended and semi-structured interviews conducted on nine workers of the center during fieldwork research and comparison with the information obtained from literature review, the present article aims at testing the existence of an effective synergy between Catholic religiosity and indigenous-mestizo spirituality within the therapeutic process performed at the Takiwasi Center and puts in evidence some stimulating and problematic issues that arise from this synergy.

Cultural Biases and Psychedelic Experiences: Western Scientific Perspectives about Amazonian Mestizo Therapeutic Traditions

“…-some academic research focused on the mestizo vegetalista therapeutic tradition of the Peruvian Amazon [13][14][15][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] and on the therapeutic community Takiwasi [14,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Therefore, the present article is based on my analysis, reprocessing, interpretation and integration of data and models from such literary sources.…”

“…In 1992, after several years of personal apprenticeship with indigenous and vegetalista healers of the Peruvian Amazon, French medical doctor Jacques Mabit founded Takiwasi, a small therapeutic community dedicated to the rehabilitation of drug addiction and research on traditional Amazonian medicine [14,[34][35][36][37]. According to the therapeutic protocol proposed by Mabit, using Amazonian sacred plants is seen as a concrete and effective option in treating drug addiction [37].…”

Konversi Residen di Pusat Rehabilitas Sibolangit Center Sumatra Utara: Dakwah dan Terapi Islami

“…Pendekatan agama dengan cara mengajari dan membetulkan pengamalan ibadah sehari-hari pecandu narkoba, mengajari mereka dengan akhlak yang baik, dan memberikan penjelasan yang konfrehensif tentang ketuhanan, dapat menumbuhkan kesadaran bertaubat pada pengguna narkoba di panti rehabilitasi Rumah Ummi Sunggal (N. Purba et al, 2019). Penelitian lain juga menguatkan argumennya bahwa terapi agama merupakan solusi alternatif dan rujukan yang dapat dilakukan untuk memulihkan pengguna narkoba dari kecanduan (Adam et al, 2015;Dubbini et al, 2020;Khaer, 2018).…”