Profile

Dr. Sara Lewis is an anthropologist specializing in mental health, culture and religion with a geographic focus on Tibet and the Himalayas. Her book, “Spacious Minds: Trauma and Resilience Among Tibetan Exiles,” is an ethnography set in Dharamsala, India, a small hill station at the foothills of the Himalayas, home to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile. Spacious Minds investigates an alternative approach to political violence and more broadly advances theoretical perspectives on resilience by demonstrating how a marginalized group uses a stance of openness, flexibility, and compassion to combat structural violence. Spacious Minds chronicles how the Tibetan theory of mind may be particularly suited for resilience in the face of rapid and uncertain social change.

Dr. Lewis also works on the mental health recovery movement in the United States and has been collaborating with the Center for Dignity, Recovery and Empowerment on a 2-year multi-site ethnographic study that investigates cultural idioms of mental distress and wellness among Lao, Native American, Latino and African American communities within the state of California. 

In addition to her research activities, Dr. Lewis has worked as a psychotherapist in community mental health in the areas of serious mental illness, mindfulness, and palliative care. 

Selected Publications

Trauma and the Making of Flexible Minds in the Tibetan Exile Community

A Critical Examination of "Morality" in an Age of Evidence Based Psychiatry

An Anthropological Study of the Therapeutics of Meditation Practice in the US

Social Support and Accountability in a Consumer-Run Mental Health Center