Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:81-83
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
The curandero's apprentice: a therapeutic integration of folk and medical healing
JJ Kreisman
Denver General Hospital, Colo.
The author discusses alternative methods for dealing with folk illness in
psychotherapy. Two case reports are presented that describe psychotic
Mexican-American patients who were successfully treated with an approach
that integrated curanderismo, the Hispanic concept of healing, and
traditional therapy. The author discusses ethical aspects of this
integrated approach and suggests that cultural considerations can be
successfully incorporated into a treatment plan of optimum benefit for the
individual patient.
