Non-medical treatments and their outcomes

Abstract

This article focuses on outcomes of Spiritualist treatments based upon a series of follow-up studies of patients who came to a Spiritualist temple situated in a rural region of Mexico. Categories of temple patients and conditions under which they resort to alternate therapeutic regimes are also examined. Follow-ups reveal that Spiritualist healers fail more than they succeed to treating their patients. The data suggest that therapeutic benefits from Spiritualist healing tend to occur in four types of disorders--simple diarrheas, simple gynecological disorders, somatized syndromes and minor psychiatric disorders. The findings suggest that successful treatment outcomes are effected not only by concrete manipulation of physiological symptoms but by symbolic manipulation as well. That is, for a therapeutic regime to do its job it must confront cultural imperatives and employ cultural symbols relevant to the removal of the sick role. An unexpected finding of the study reveals that, in the Mexican case, the cultural imperatives relate to cleaning and purification, mediated by tactile communication, which serve symbolically to terminate the sick role.

Patient Preparation and Perceived Outcomes of Spiritist Healing in Brazil

“…While the present paper does not make any claims regarding medical efficacy, it does represent a step forward in these efforts by presenting the patient-perceived outcomes of a very popular and sophisticated symbolic healing system. The results of this study display much in common with similar studies of ethnomedical systems in Latin America (Droogers 1995;Finkler 1980;1981;1983;1985;Greenfield 1992;Gross 1971;Pressel 1974;Rubel et. al.…”

Culture and Psychotherapy: Review and Practical Guidelines

“…Finkler (1980) conducted follow-up studies of patients who visited a spiritualist temple for treatment of various disorders in a rural region of Mexico. Among 107 subjects who completed the investigation, 38 cases (35.5%) described their disorders as unresponsive to the treatment, while 27 cases (25.3%) reported that their disorders improved.…”

Therapeutic Processes and Perceived Helpfulness of Dang-Ki (Chinese Shamanism) from the Symbolic Healing Perspective

“…Likewise, in Taiwan, many patients are not familiar with the symbolic meanings underlying some dang-ki rituals (Kleinman 1980). In Mexico, although patients do not understand why their shamans behave in certain ways during the healing trance, they accept the shamans' injunctions without question (Finkler 1980). In Japan, the Itako shamans speak in a dialect that is not comprehensible to their urban patients (Freeman 1998).…”