Skip to content

07. Incorporation of Energetic/Shamanic Modalities in Allopathic Medical Practice

D. Steinhorn, Wendy Dimmette, R. Alcorn, Melinda R. Ring

Global Advances in Health and Medicine November 1, 2013 DOI: 10.7453/gahmj.2013.097cp.s07 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Case study Case report Peer reviewed
Population Patients receiving standard conventional allopathic therapy who were open to integrating energy and/or shamanic methods into their clinical care, drawn from three allopathic practice settings
Intervention Energy healing
Topics Shamanism
Key findings The presentation argues that energy healing and shamanic approaches can be integrated seamlessly with conventional allopathic care, using cases from three practice settings to show how attention to spiritual and energetic issues accompanies treatment of somatic and psychiatric illness. It contends that these modalities, though outside mainstream medicine, are widely used and recognized as essential tools of contemporary integrative medicine.

Abstract

Focus Area: Integrative Approaches to Care Over the last 4 decades, a wide range of energy healing modalities and spiritual disciplines have surfaced in Western society. As health maintenance and therapeutic modalities, energy healing and mind-body techniques are widely recognized as essential tools of contemporary integrative medicine. While still outside the realm of mainstream allopathic medicine, many individuals in North America and Europe use such approaches as a central part of their healthcare practices and spiritual lives. The last 2 decades have also seen the emergence of shamanic teaching and practices in North America and Europe, which are more commonly associated with the spirituality of less industrialized societies and cultures worldwide. Such practices extend back to antiquity and recognize a connection between everything in creation as well as the proper relationship between nature, man, and the universe at large. Extending beyond methods that one can apply to one's own life like other mind-body techniques, many schools of shamanic teaching incorporate training in healing physical conditions as well as counseling for psychological issues. This presentation will demonstrate the inclusion of energetic and shamanic approaches in the care of patients receiving standard conventional allopathic therapy but who have been open to the integration of energy and/or shamanic methods into their clinical care. Relying upon cases from three different allopathic practice settings, the material presented will demonstrate a seamless integration of these approaches in providing the best of conventional allopathic practice with the recognition of the spiritual and energetic issues associated with the somatic and psychiatric illness.

Comparable studies

Other case reports and case series on shamanism, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Brain changes during a shamanic trance: Altered modes of consciousness, hemispheric laterality, and systemic psychobiology A normal subject with extensive training in the Mongolian shamanic tradition 2017 Case study n = 1
The Diaspora of Brazilian Religions 2013 Ethnographic case studies
Transformation in Dang-ki Healing: The Embodied Self and Perceived Legitimacy. A male dang-ki, 10 temple assistants, and 9 clients at a shrine in Singapore 2016 Case study n = 20
(Neo)Shamanic Dialogues Members of a Guarani Indian village on the Atlantic coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil 2012 Case study
Kambô: A Shamanic Medicine - Personal Testimonies 2018 Case study

Explore topics