Puerto Rican and Cuban espiritismo

Domain XI · Traditional medicine & indigenous healing · 1857 · Puerto Rico and Cuba

What it is

Espiritismo is a Caribbean and Latin American spiritual and healing tradition that grew out of the Spiritism codified by Allan Kardec in France (his Book of the Spirits, Paris, 1857). It is not a psychotherapy, and the therapist does not practise it. Within the tradition, spirits of the dead are…

Format

• The tradition's own sessions, cleansings and mediumship development belong to its practitioners and are not described here. The framework below is the therapist's own work. No source gives a session count for it, so the structure is built on the CFI's intended use.
• Phase A: engagement and cultural assessment (sessions 1-2). Goal: hear the problem in the client's terms, including any spiritual explanation, without judgement. Format: the core CFI (16 questions, four domains) within the intake, plus the Spirituality, Religion and Moral Traditions module and the…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Espiritismo has no single leader or centre, and practice varies widely. Authority lies with the leader of each centro (Koss calls the group leader the "Presidente") and with individual mediums and espiritistas. Historically, federations were also sought in Puerto Rico. Where Santería is involved, authority rests with that tradition's own elders and godparents (padrino or madrina), not with the espiritista. No…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Phase D: ongoing therapy and integration. Goal: evidence-based treatment for the presenting problem, using the client's own meanings (for example pruebas, spiritual development, protection) where they help. Repeat CFI modules when needed, which the modules allow "repeatedly" during treatment.…

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?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• 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

• defensiveness, minimising, or testing the therapist. It is working when the client brings spiritual matters into sessions openly.
• missed appointments, relapse after stopping medication, and physical red flags. It is working when medical and spiritual care continue side by side.
• sudden secrecy, which may mean the client expects disapproval. Watch for reports that the client was told to stop medication or avoid surgery: Núñez Molina notes isolated cases of healers…
• the client describing the problem only in medical terms at first and spiritual terms later, as trust grows. That is common and fine. Clients may also fear you will think they are "crazy" for…
• feeling amused, alarmed or keen to "educate" the client. Taking an outsider ethnography as the client's own view. It is working when the client corrects you freely and brings spiritual material…

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.