Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers: Unwitting Partners in Global Mental Health

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. It is a unique resource in traditional healing and transcultural psychiatry. It delineates the knowledge and clinical skills of traditional healers from diverse cultural areas around the world. It 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. It assesses issues on efficacy and safety of traditional healers interventions. It 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.

It covers the 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. It is 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.