Use of Sensorimotor Religious and Spiritual Practices for Therapeutic Purposes in Mental Health Clinical Settings

Prior to COVID-19, Australians faced inadequate mental health care despite reform policies and initiatives. The prevalence of mental health concerns increased during and after the pandemic, with efforts by federal and state governments falling short of meeting the needs of individuals with mental health challenges. With increased mental health concerns among Australians, the need for easily accessible, evidence-based, supplementary interventions that can support existing mental health care has been recognised. Alternative interventions including religious/spiritual practices are reported to be an increasingly acceptable choice of interventions among Australians including those with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, who often do not access mental health services, primarily due to the lack of English proficiency.

Within religions and spiritual traditions, there are body-focussed religious/spiritual practices that have empirical evidence of mental health benefits and may be termed as sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices. Sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices use the body as a medium and incorporate sensory (connected with senses) and motor (movement-related) components. Body-focussed interventions have become an essential part of mental health recovery. Being body focussed, sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices do not require a high level of linguistic skills and align with the recent trend of using body-focussed interventions; hence, they may be suitable for a wide extent of the population in Australia. This research attempts to understand if sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices may be considered as mental health interventions in clinical settings. 

Firstly, as part of the research, two systematic reviews were conducted that critically reviewed the empirical evidence for sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices, including breathwork, chanting, religious/spiritual singing and movements, in mental health. Secondly, based on the findings of the review, using concurrent mixed methodology, three empirical studies were conducted that explored the perceptions of mental health professionals (MHPs) (Study 1), experienced practitioners of religious/spiritual practices (Study 2), and religious/spiritual experts (Study 3) regarding effective and appropriate utilisation of sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices as mental health interventions in clinical settings. Study 1 was a quantitative survey and Studies 2 and 3 were qualitative studies. The findings of the systematic reviews provided empirical evidence of the mental health benefits of sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices; however, both reviews highlighted the need for further investigation of appropriate and effective use of sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices in the clinical settings. The findings of Study 1 suggested that MHPs perceived sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices as potential mental health interventions; however, their current knowledge and confidence levels of using these practices as mental health interventions in clinical settings are low. Additionally, the need for training for MHPs regarding proper utilisation of religious/spiritual practices as mental health interventions, and inclusion of practice guidelines were identified. Participants of both qualitative studies (Studies 2 and 3) suggested that, while a sensorimotor religious/spiritual practice may best support mental health within its original religion and spiritual tradition, it may still impart some benefits when taken out of the religious/spiritual context. Participants of both studies supported the potential use of sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices as mental health interventions; however, they emphasised that thorough assessment of acceptability, potential risks, and scope of practices should precede their implementation. 

The findings of this research provided preliminary insights that may be used as a point of reference to further consider the suitability of sensorimotor religious/spiritual practices that may be extracted from a religion or spiritual tradition and investigated for their therapeutic use as mental health interventions in the clinical settings in Australia.