Psychiatrists And Traditional Healers

This exceptional book responds to the intense current interest in defining and understanding the contribution of traditional medical knowledge and the intervention techniques of traditional healers to national mental health services around the world. First book on traditional healing and transcultural psychiatry Delineates the knowledge and clinical skills of traditional healers from diverse cultural areas around the world Describes the clinical and social roles of traditional healers in their communities and the challenges of constructing national mental health programs that include traditional knowledge and healing techniques Assesses issues on efficacy and safety of traditional healers' interventions Includes contributions from leading scholars in this field from South Africa, India, New Zealand, Andorra, Canada, USA, Italy, and the Quichua and Sioux Lakota Nations of South and North America Theme of culture versus science: The psychiatrists discuss the effects of local culture upon mental health and consider the impact, benefit and incorporation of traditional healing as a tool for the clinical psychiatrist Easy to use with case studies and vignettes throughout and a glossary to explain any technical terms Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers: Unwitting Partners in Global Mental Health is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of a wide array of mental health trainees, researchers and professionals interested in cultural psychiatry in general and the role of traditional healers around the world.

This exceptional book responds to the intense current interest in defining and understanding the contribution of traditional medical knowledge and the intervention techniques of traditional healers to national mental health services around the world. First book on traditional healing and transcultural psychiatry Delineates the knowledge and clinical skills of traditional healers from diverse cultural areas around the world Describes the clinical and social roles of traditional healers in their communities and the challenges of constructing national mental health programs that include traditional knowledge and healing techniques Assesses issues on efficacy and safety of traditional healers' interventions Includes contributions from leading scholars in this field from South Africa, India, New Zealand, Andorra, Canada, USA, Italy, and the Quichua and Sioux Lakota Nations of South and North America Theme of culture versus science: The psychiatrists discuss the effects of local culture upon mental health and consider the impact, benefit and incorporation of traditional healing as a tool for the clinical psychiatrist. Easy to use with case studies and vignettes throughout and a glossary to explain any technical terms Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers: Unwitting Partners in Global Mental Health is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of a wide array of mental health trainees, researchers and professionals interested in cultural psychiatry in general and the role of traditional healers around the world.

"This book tries to pour some light on traditional medicine as an alternative form of health management as practised in Cameroon (Africa). Use is made of the treatment of some psychiatric cases to point out the pros and contras of traditional medicine. Elaborate references are made to some earlier works on traditional medicine in Africa as a whole and Cameroon in particular. A great section of the book is dedicated to the research work carried out with four renowned traditional doctors. The findings in Bafut and Njinikom show that traditional doctors make a lot of contributions to mental health in their localities."--BOOK JACKET.

Traditional practitioners have contributed a great deal to the treatment of mentally ill patients in the West African communities. This book is a unique scientific contribution in that it focuses on indigenous practitioners that little research has been done. With empirical data from these cultures, the book combines critical analysis of theories concerning the manner these practitioners carry out their work in certain treatment centres. A primary contribution of the book is its insistence on how the various governments in this region should consider the need of the African patient in any major attempts to develop the integration of the Primary Health Care and the Traditional Health Care Sectors. Ideal for mental care workers, social workers, psychiatrists, cross-cultural psychologists, and sociologists who want potent knowledge that concerns the treatment performed by the traditional practitioners. The book will also serve as a valuable foundation of knowledge in courses that examine this topic.

This book examines a collaboration between traditional Māori healing and clinical psychiatry. Comprised of transcribed interviews and detailed meditations on practice, it demonstrates how bicultural partnership frameworks can augment mental health treatment by balancing local imperatives with sound and careful psychiatric care. In the first chapter, Māori healer Wiremu NiaNia outlines the key concepts that underpin his worldview and work. He then discusses the social, historical, and cultural context of his relationship with Allister Bush, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. The main body of the book comprises chapters that each recount the story of one young person and their family’s experience of Māori healing from three or more points of view: those of the psychiatrist, the Māori healer and the young person and other family members who participated in and experienced the healing. With a foreword by Sir Mason Durie, this book is essential reading for psychologists, social workers, nurses, therapists, psychiatrists, and students interested in bicultural studies.

For more than a century, anthropologists and psychiatrists engage in conversations concerning relationships between embodied well-being and religion. Taking account of shifting meanings of 'religion' in global modernities, the included essays reveal how historically and culturally embedded local encounters between psychiatry, religious experience, and ritual healing contribute to an increasing diversification of 'mental health.' The multitude of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches brought to the field in the global north and the global south introduce novel insights into current debates between clinical practitioners, ethnographic fieldworkers, and historians of psychiatry. (Series: Culture, Religion and Psychiatry, Vol. 1) [Subject: Psychiatry, Religious Studies, Ethnography, Sociology]

This authoritative reference surveys mind-body healing concepts and psychosomatic medicine in diverse countries and regions of the world. It provides practical insights on the Western division between medical and mental healing and useful information concerning recent efforts to bridge that enduring divide, particularly in the use of ancient and indigenous healing knowledge in psychosomatic practice. Coverage compares and contrasts current applications of psychosomatic medicine and/or consultation-liaison psychiatry as conducted in such representative countries as France, Britain, China, India, Argentina, Canada, and the United States. And the book predicts how this synthesis of traditions and advances will progress as it: Traces the history and development of psychosomatic medicine. Reviews contributions of traditional healing methods to psychosomatic medicine. Analyzes national styles of psychosomatic medicine as practiced in specific countries. Compares the status of psychosomatic medicine / consultation-liaison psychiatry in various countries. Considers the future of psychosomatic medicine as the field, and the world, evolves. Global Psychosomatic Medicine and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry expands the knowledge base for psychiatrists, primary care physicians, psychiatric and primary care residents, medical students, behavioral medicine specialists, and others who are interested global and regional perspective on providing biopsychosocial care. It is also relevant for advanced students in health psychology and behavioral medicine, and for professionals in related health fields.

Connecting modern psychology to its Indigenous roots to enhance the healing process and psychology itself • Shares the healing wisdom of Indigenous people the author has worked with, including the Ju/’hoansi of the Kalahari Desert, the Fijians of the South Pacific, Sicangu Lakota people, and Cree and Anishnabe First Nations people • Explains how Indigenous perspectives can help create a more effective model of best practices in psychology • Explores the vital role of spirituality in the practice of psychology and the shift of emphasis that occurs when one understands that all beings are interconnected Wherever the first inhabitants of the world gathered together, they engaged in the human concerns of community building, interpersonal relations, and spiritual understanding. As such these earliest people became our “first psychologists.” Their wisdom lives on through the teachings of contemporary Indigenous elders and healers, offering unique insights and practices to help us revision the self-limiting approaches of modern psychology and enhance the processes of healing and social justice. Reconnecting psychology to its ancient roots, Richard Katz, Ph.D., sensitively shares the healing wisdom of Indigenous peoples he has worked with, including the Ju/’hoansi of the Kalahari Desert, Fijians native to the Fiji Islands, Lakota people of the Rosebud Reservation, and Cree and Anishnabe First Nations people from Saskatchewan. Through stories about the profoundly spiritual ceremonies and everyday practices he engaged in, he seeks to fulfill the responsibility he was given: build a foundation of reciprocity so Indigenous teachings can create a path toward healing psychology. Also drawing on his experience as a Harvard-trained psychologist, the author reveals how modern psychological approaches focus too heavily on labels and categories and fail to recognize the benefits of enhanced states of consciousness. Exploring the vital role of spirituality in the practice of psychology, Katz explains how the Indigenous approach offers a way to understand challenges and opportunities, from inside lived truths, and treat mental illness at its source. Acknowledging the diversity of Indigenous approaches, he shows how Indigenous perspectives can help create a more effective model of best practices in psychology as well as guide us to a more holistic existence where we can once again assume full responsibility in the creation of our lives.