This paper was presented at
Psychology: The Indian Contribution
National Conference on
Indian Psychology, Yoga and Consciousness
organised by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research
at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education
Pondicherry, India, 10-13 December 2004
(click to enlarge)
Folk wisdom and traditional healing practices: Some lessons for modern psychotherapies
Ajit K Dalal — University of Allahabad, Allahabad.
The paper reviews the relevance and richness of the traditional healing
practices in India and argues that they are based on complex psychological
theories of mind and human nature. Some salient characteristics of these
traditional practices have also been identified. The paper further endeavours
to understand the way traditional healing works to alleviate human suffering
and tries to delineate the role of cultural belief systems. It is argued
that an in-depth study of folk wisdom inherent in traditional healing
practices may lead to the development of new and globally appropriate
psychotherapies.