The Ancestral Institute is a forum in which participants bring and share ancestral/traditional healing practices, and examine how these can be incorporated with contemporary mental health psychological paradigms to work toward achieving a “whole person” type of treatment for Black and peoples of color, and which will be included in training modules and therapeutic practices, especially for Indigenous, Black and people of color practitioners.
On October 6, 2022, we launched the Ancestral Institute (AI) online; it began at noon and concluded at 6:30pm.
in 2023, continuing with the 2022 title, “Reclaiming Rituals - Honoring Ancestors, Impacting Communities,” we will convene and continue reconnecting with our Ancestors, and to celebrate the many rites, rituals, practices, and respective communities - the ways we healed ourselves and each other.
The Ancestral Institute (AI-23) returns with an online forum on Saturday, October 28, 2023, with an in depth program book ended by calling on our ancestors through traditional libations at 9:00am and concluding at 5:00pm, provided by a Shinnecock Indian Nation Elder and an African Yoruba Traditional Chief.
The DRAFT Program is available online.
Registration is available until Oct 28.
We are aware of these truths
1
that mental health, as a science, is relatively new;
2
that mental health was never designed or formulated to and for Black and people of color;
3
that we need to reconnect with, and incorporate ancestral and indigenous healing practices with Western psychological constructs to address mental health in our communities, to achieve a "whole person" type of evaluation, diagnosis and treatment;
4
that mental illness and health among our communities manifests differently.
As we turn to our elders for their wisdom and experience to guide us, we ask them:
1
What does mental health and illness among their tribes, nations, families, communities look like?
2
How does the family, tribe, village, community and nation assist with treating one of their own?
PAST EDITIONS
2022
