Traditional African Healing Ceremony in a U.S. Population
Completed · Not applicable
Conditions studied: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Anxiety, Depression, Cancer
In brief
Pre-agricultural societies almost universally used healing ceremonies that involved reverence, rhythm and dance in the presence of a healer. It is believed that we are "wired" for such experiences and they foster an integrative mode of consciousness similar to that of mindfulness based stress reduction, which has been shown to have therapeutic effects in a variety of conditions. Collaborator Ava Lavonne Vinesett of the Duke Dance Program has developed a healing ceremony based in sub-Saharan African traditions. The investigators plan is to have 25 subjects with a variety of clinical conditions participate in this ceremony. Subjects will then be asked to write a commentary about their experience and to participate in a focus group discussion. It is anticipated that the study will give us some idea of how promising this approach would be and what kinds of patients might benefit. Safety issues are minimal and include the possibility of injury (though the dancing is not strenuous) and psychological distress.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT01873482
- Run by
- Duke University
- People needed
- 17
- Starts
- 2014-05-01
- Last updated by the study team
- 2014-11-03
Who can join
Age: 25 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Age 25 to 65 with one of the diagnoses listed above or with 8 visits to their provider in the last year and with no diagnosis of chronic illness.
You may not qualify if…
- physical disability making participation difficult and previous experience with a similar ceremony, for instance while growing up in Africa.
Where it is running
- Duke University — Durham, North Carolina, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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