Religion and Spirituality in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

This book analyses the roles that religion and spirituality play in supporting the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of people in low-income and fragile contexts. Drawing on extensive original research with policymakers, academics, and practitioners, the book demonstrates how religion and spirituality are being integrated into Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) services across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. War, conflict, forced displacement and prolonged exposure to hardship and violence have varied impacts on people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. Religion and spirituality are often a core need in times of crisis, and it can be both a protective and risk factor for mental health. This book assesses the extent to which MHPSS services recognise the importance of religion and spirituality, and the challenges and opportunities for integrating ‘faith-sensitive’ approaches into practice. It dives into research from Ukraine, Syria, South Africa, Colombia, among other contexts, considering the different ways that ‘faith-sensitive’ MHPSS is formalised through operational guidance and policies and implemented through programming in diverse contexts. Transcending academic-practitioner boundaries, the book assesses the global norms and local practices driving the interest in and application of faith-sensitive MHPSS, and what that means for theory and practice. This timely new book will be an important read for researchers and practitioners working on humanitarianism, global development, peacebuilding, global public health and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support.