Abstract:
Ethiopia is one of the ancient countries inhabited by well over
a hundred million people of diverse cultures and languages.
Such diversity requires mental health training and services
to be tailored to those diverse needs of the people.
Consequently, there are important implications for mental
health training and services. The gap in mental health knowledge is attributed perhaps to a lack of trained professionals
in relevant fields in awareness and understanding of advances
made in global mental health (GMH) and blended with indigenous wisdom. Training is Western orientated and lacks integration with local culture and wisdom. The study intends to
explore the extent to which mental health training and services have customized Western mental health traditions into
the indigenous knowledge, skills, and practices of Ethiopia.
The study employed an exploratory design, and data was collected through focus group discussions (FGD) from a total of
eighteen faculty, alumni, and practitioners working at the
University of Gondar. Data was collected using semi-structured
interview guides from the different groups. Mental health
knowledge in our training and service providers is perceived
to be culture specific rather than universal. However, it is
highly influenced by the Western culture diffused through
various media. This has resulted in faculty and practitioners
being dependent on Western resources without adapting
them into indigenous wisdom and cultures. This has prevented them from exploring and practicing what is available
in our specific cultures and traditions, such as books written
by the religious scholars and traditional healers.
