Sakha Aiyy Faith and Yhyakh

Domain XI · Traditional medicine & indigenous healing · Lazar Afanasyev · 1993 · Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia

What it is

This is not a psychotherapy. It is a living religious and cultural revival among the Sakha (Yakut) people of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the Russian Federation. It has two parts:

Format

• There is no therapy protocol to follow. The framework below organises the psychotherapist's own work with a Sakha client for whom Aiyy faith, shamanic or healer traditions, or Yhyakh matter. Session counts are planning guides.
• Phase 1. Engagement and cultural assessment (sessions 1–3). Goal: understand the problem in the client's terms. Use the core CFI (16 questions in four domains; with a relative or friend, the 17-question Informant Version). Add the supplementary modules that fit, typically Spirituality, Religion and…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: the Aiyy (Aar Aiyy) religion as its registered organisations and Russian and Sakha scholarship describe it (Kut-Siur, 1993; Religion of Aar Aiyy, registered by the Russian Ministry of Justice in 2014); Yhyakh as the Sakha Republic state holiday proclaimed in 1992. The therapist's procedures follow the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) and its supplementary modules, Kleinman's…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Phase 4. Therapy and integration (typically 8–20 sessions, depending on the presenting problem). Goal: treat the presenting problem with your usual evidence-based method, adapted to the client's model. Integrate the client's festival, faith or healing experiences into the therapy. Exit criterion:…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• fear of being "put away", which leads to silence about experiences. It is working when the client talks openly about spiritual material.
• fear of community retaliation and minimisation. It is working when the client is safe and their trust in you is preserved where possible.
• idealising or rejecting the revival, and loyalty conflicts. It is working when the client holds the family's different paths with less distress.
• interpreter editorialising, and the client holding back because the community is small. It is working when the client uses their own terms freely.
• stopped psychiatric medication, an untreated physical illness, and burns or injuries. It is working when all helpers know about one another and medical care continues.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.