What we can learn from shamanic healing: brief psychotherapy with Latino immigrant clients.
American journal of public health October 1, 2002 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.2105/ajph.92.10.1576 via PubMed
Summary
A medical anthropologist and psychotherapist analyzed a database of 700 Latino immigrant families to explore how shamanic techniques from their cultures can enhance Western psychotherapy methods like hypnosis, behavior modification, and cognitive restructuring. By integrating these culturally relevant approaches, therapists can improve their cultural competence and better address mental health symptoms in US Latino immigrants.
Study at a glance
| Sample size | 700 |
|---|---|
| Population | Latino immigrant families |
| Key finding | Shamanic techniques from the immigrants' original culture can complement Western psychotherapy methods to effectively reduce mental illness symptoms in US Latino immigrants. |
Abstract
The author, a medical anthropologist and licensed psychotherapist, draws on a database of 700 Latino immigrant families whom she has treated to demonstrate concepts and techniques of psychotherapeutic intervention that are derived from shamanic roots in the immigrant's original culture. Congruences may exist between the shamanic techniques of the coastal and Amazonian regions of Peru and 3 Western psychotherapy techniques-hypnosis, behavior modification, and cognitive restructuring. By using historic links with Hispanic culture and the techniques discussed in the commentary, psychotherapists can acquire cultural competence that will enable them to effectively reduce mental illness symptoms presented by US Latino immigrants in clinical practice.