Spirit Release and Psychiatry
Do you know anyone who suffers from patterns of negative thinking that just won’t go away, e.g. resentments, desire for revenge, self-hatred? At its worst, this can lead to obsessive thinking, night and day. The mind fills with negative thoughts like “I’m inadequate.” “I should be different than I am.” “I’m going to make someone else suffer”, or “I want to kill myself.”
Trying to change one’s pattern of thinking may be easy for some but can seem impossible for others, even with CBT and a good psychotherapist.
Spirit Release in the USA
“The influencing spirits can have a variety of behaviors, but are often lost, confused, or stuck at the time of their death.”—Kerri Husman, MD (psychiatrist)
The notion of “Depossession” aka “Spirit Release” is coming of age in the USA. The idea is that the spirit of a person who has passed away can attach itself to a human being, and add energy to their negative thinking patterns. The pattern of thinking then persists despite all therapies. Examples: A person who is inclined to drink alcohol may feel more drawn to drink more. Someone feeling resentment towards a prior friend may feel the courage to go after them and hurt them. An effective depossession can detach the negatively motivated spirit and usher them into a higher state of consciousness. This relieves the human being as well as liberating the spirit. The person-in-body is now able to complete the work of fully letting go of the negative pattern of thinking and behaving that is no longer extreme.
In the USA, depossession is typically done by an individual practitioner with their client/patient present. A fee is charged for the spiritual intervention. The practitioner may work with their own spirit guides in what is often termed a “ceremony” that uses drumming, singing, and other elements, like fans made of feathers, which we often associate with shamanic practices. Does this sound too woo-woo to be taken seriously?
Realize that some individual psychiatrists in the USA are trained in doing depossession and may even teach it as a protocol to use with patients. Having seen positive outcomes, they have come to believe it can have a very positive, healing effect. Kerri Husman, MD, (left photo) published an article about her work, Healing Through Compassionate Depossession: A Shamanic Perspective. She anchors it in practices known to indigenous cultures; and illustrates the outcome of depossession, ”[the individual] regains more of its spiritual power and authentic voice.” Kerri offers workshops as guest faculty for the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
Spirit Release in Brazil
Spiritist groups in Brazil have been developing their form of releasing spirits from human beings for more than 130 years via “disobsession”. Their practice was inspired by the writings of an academic, Allan Kardec, in France. Disobsession is practiced in Spiritist Community Centers and Spiritist Psychiatric Hospitals in Brazil. The Spiritist disobsession practices are not part of any religion or cult but align with a way of life that supports human evolution.
Disobsession is offered to individuals who don’t respond well, i.e. heal, through the help of personal therapy, group therapy, and other therapies offered by psychologists and psychiatrists as well as energy work, similar to Reiki. Disobsession is always authorized by the individual; however, the person is generally not present during the work.
The disobsession is typically done by a group of highly trained mediums and supervised by their mentor. In this format, after a group meditation, one or more of the mediums will focus on connecting with the spirit who is attached to the person who is suffering. The medium(s) will then give voice to the spirit who identifies itself, gives the situation that has caused it to attach to the human being, and reveals its intention to stay attached. Example: “This person betrayed me in the past and I want to make him suffer so I inject thoughts into him that he’s a very bad person that doesn’t deserve to be happy.” Once this kind of information has been gained by the team, another medium then guides the spirit, compassionately, into the light of love. The rest of the team can sense and acknowledge the release has occurred and return to a more positive meditative state. The patient also feels the release and usually benefits by feeling more balanced and at peace.
This group intervention is free to the client/ patient. The supervisor is there to make sure all the mediums feel balanced and present in ordinary consciousness before leaving the session. Energy work, similar to Reiki, is available if a medium feels depleted. This provides grounding and safety for all involved—as it is challenging work. In the hospital setting notes from the disobsession are added to a patient’s file to offer perspective to other healthcare providers regarding diagnosis and treatment.
One Brazilian psychiatrist, Alexander Moreira-Almeida, has been prolific is writing about the role of spirituality in mental health. A recent book “Science of Life after Death” by Moreira-Almeida, A, de Abreu Costa, M, and Coelho, HS was published in 2022. it considers the scientific evidence for life after death and the value of working with this reality towards improving mental healthcare.
What About Exorcism?
In esoteric Catholicism some priests are trained to do exorcisms as part of their service to their congregations. In this practice the priest uses prayer and religious symbols, like the cross, as he calls on the negatively motivated spirit to leave an individual. Prayers typically used are rooted in the intention of sending the spirit to “hell” or destroying it in some way –as it is believed to be part of the devil. This conflict-based ritual has been dramatized by Hollywood films. “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”, is a 2-hour full feature movie released in 2005, considered a supernatural horror film. That movie rested on an earlier, popular film, “The Exorcist”, released in 1974. Spirit Release differs from Exorcism in that it liberates both the human being and the spirit to a life of more self-acceptance and love.
Does Psychiatry Endorse This?
“Spirit attachment appears to be a common phenomenon, with an important role in many forms of emotional disorder.” –Alan Sanderson, MD
The spirit release practices are all based on the belief that spirits exist independent of a physical body but we are all ultimately destined to return to our maker (a loving God, aka the Light). Also, these practices rely on a meaningful interaction between spirits of the dead and human beings. This will not sit well with everyone; however, as more psychiatrists and healthcare providers accept the positive results of disobsession and depossession, we will have the opportunity to add these techniques to the increasingly popular paradigm of bio-psycho-social and spiritual care.
UK psychiatrists may be showing the way to dovetail psychiatry and spirituality: The Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK is the professional medical body responsible for setting and raising standards of psychiatry in the United Kingdom. Andrew Powell MD was Founding Chair of the Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK in 2005. Today this interest group numbers 5,000+ members. Dr Powell is co-editor of the book ‘Spirituality and Psychiatry’ (2009), author of ‘The Ways of the Soul’ (2017) and ‘Conversations with the Soul’ (2018) and many articles.
In 1999, Alan Sanderson, MD, (1931-2022) co-founded the Foundation for Spirit Release, which pioneered the use of Spirit Release Therapy in the UK. Although the Foundation ended in 2012 due to lack of financial resources, the Spirit Release Forum, remains active to this day. Dr Sanderson continued researching and writing on the survival of consciousness after death as a member of the special interest group described above. His book “Psychiatry and the Spirit World” was published in 2022. His ground-breaking article, The Case for Spirit Release, was published in 2003. Another article, Spirit Release in Clinical Psychiatry, was published in 2015.
Another member, Peter Fenwick, MD, (1935-2024), also published and contributed to understanding the phenomena of spirits interacting with humans at the time of Near-Death Experiences and at death.
If you want to reflect more on the reality and value of depossession, disobsession and spirit release and the phenomena of human-spirit interaction—or be trained in offering this therapy, we highly recommend reading the authors cited in this article or listening to them on youtube.
We encourage more US psychiatrists to participate more fully in this new wave of research, publication, teaching, and practice. One outstanding byproduct: As we become more understanding of spirit-human interactions we will also have the option to choose to interact with highly evolved spirits who can help us develop and maintain positive patterns of thinking. Brazilian Spiritists and sages of the Far East have been doing this for years—even centuries. It’s the most empowering part of human-spirit interaction.
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Author: Emma Bragdon, PhD, leads annual 7-day seminars exploring Spiritist Therapies in Brazil. These small groups learn through observation, experiencing treatments, and talking to practitioners within the hospitals and community centers. For more information, link to https://courses.imhu.org/courses/2025-weeklong-seminar-in-brazil-spiritist-therapies-in-brazil
RESOURCES AT IMHU FOR FURTHER LEARNING
Karen Lawson, MD, ABIHM, a family physician and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health, is the Director of Integrative Health Coaching and a teaching faculty member at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing. She teaches a course at U of Minnesota, “Foundations of Shamanism and Shamanic Healing”, She teaches a course at IMHU.org that includes a one hour webinar, “Improve Mental Health Through Shamanism.” Learn more: https://courses.imhu.org/courses/shamanism-improves-mental-health